The Arizona Child Support Calculator: How it Works
The Arizona child support calculator can be a great tool to help you figure out exactly how much you’re likely to receive. It can also be used to get an idea of how much you’ll be asked to pay if you’re the non-custodial parent. Here is everything you need to know about how child support is calculated in Arizona:
Factors Accounted For by the Arizona Child Support Calculator
In order to maximize the odds of coming up with a fair and equitable amount of child support owing, many factors are taken into consideration. The goal is to come up with an amount that balances
the needs of the children involved, with the parents’ ability to afford the payments. Additionally, the calculator helps to make consistent recommendations on required payment amounts for people in similar circumstances.
The number and ages of the children for whom the support is intended will affect the final payment amount. For example, a higher number of children being supported by the child support funds will lead to more money being ordered for payment.
The costs incurred by the custodial parent in raising a child will increase the more time that child spends in their home. Because of this, payment amounts are generally higher if a child spends a greater percentage of time in the care of this parent.
Here are some other factors that are taken into consideration:
-gross income of non-custodial parent
-children from other relationships and whether or not there is any court-ordered child support payments for them
-children (includes both adopted and natural) that are not covered by a court order
-amounts paid for insurance (vision, dental, and medical), education, or any other extraordinary expenses
-parenting time of each parent
-the percentage of combined income earned by both the custodial and non-custodial parent
Taking all of these factors into account helps to make sure that children are receiving needed financial support from their parents, helps to lower taxpayer welfare costs, and better enables families to be self-sufficient. The most current calculator for Arizona is from 2015. You can use it as a starting place.
The Arizona Child Support Calculator is Just the Beginning
Once you have an idea of how much you can expect to receive (or pay out) in child support payments, you’ll need to formalize the arrangement. Usually it is the parent who will be receiving child support who starts the process by making a formal application with the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
If you’ll be the person who is applying for child support, it can be very useful to have someone available to help ensure that all forms are filled out correctly. One option is to hire a lawyer. However, if your case is fairly straightforward, or a lawyer is outside your budget, you can save a lot of money by hiring a certified legal document preparer instead. They have the experience of knowing not only which forms you’ll need to fill out, but how to complete them correctly. This can help the entire process of applying for child support go much more smoothly than it would if you were to try to do everything by yourself.
