Tucson Family Law Blog

In many divorce cases in Arizona, child support payments are ordered by a court. These monthly payments typically last until a child is an adult. Child support can be modified with court approval in certain situations based upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances.

After child support payments are ordered, a willful failure to pay can lead to heavy penalties. This is what police are reporting occurred when a man was arrested recently in an Arizona courtroom. The man is accused of failing to pay as much as $30,000 in child support payments for his eight children from four marriages. The court ordered that the man remain in custody until he pays a minimum of $6,000 in past due child support payments. He apparently also faced difficulties in making child support payments in another state in 2002.

Many in Arizona know that when a couple files for divorce there are issues that can be negotiated between the spouses. These can include asset division, the family home and in some cases child custody. Often the child custody plan can be decided between the parents without court intervention. Other times the court must make the determination because parents cannot agree.

In divorces, it is common for parents to seek what they believe is in the best interests of the children. This can sometimes make agreement on a custody plan difficult due to the desire of both parties to have the children live with them. When a court is asked to determine the custodial schedule, the judge reviews all available evidence to determine a fair and equitable resolution that meets the child's needs.

When a military service member files for divorce, they may know that the possibility of deployment is often considered in determining child custody. With many members of the armed services deployed or in units available for deployment, a large number of families can be affected. Until now, the deployment status of an Arizona military member could be considered in determining which parent would have child custody in military divorce matters.

The House Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Congress has approved a proposal that would help to protect the child custody rights of service members. The bill, which has been proposed in the past, received the positive votes of all 63 members of the committee recently. It is now being presented to the Senate Armed Services committee for review, though it has yet to be enacted into law.

Some Arizona fathers may know firsthand how difficult it can be to assert legal rights as a father figure in a child's life when the child is born out of wedlock. Until recently, mothers of children born out of wedlock have automatically had full legal custody until paternity is proven and a court is able to order some sort of shared custody agreement. This was felt to enable some mother's to deny child custody or visitation from the child's father more easily than should have been allowed.

Luckily for these fathers, a new bill is moving through Arizona legislature that will give fathers equal custody rights to their out-of-wedlock children. So long as their name is on the birth certificate or their paternity is acknowledged, they will retain equal rights just as parents of a child born during a marriage. However, some believe this bill will have unintended consequences such as placing unwarranted or undeserved custody with a father who has not been present in the child's life.