Children with Special Needs

Children with special needs further complicate child custody and care issues during and after a divorce. As a result, your family law attorney needs to know what parents rights are under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and with the Section 504 (504) in the Americans With Disabilities Act when advising their clients and when crafting custody agreements.

The following article "Impact of Divorce Agreements on Special Education Decision-Making" highlights some issues and concerns to think about when one of your client's children are suspected of having or are diagnosed with a learning or emotional disability.

Arizona Child Support Update

The Arizona legislature is in the process of reviewing the Arizona Child Support Guidelines. This review process occurs approximately every 4 years in order to insure that the Arizona Child Support Guidelines are in sync with the current economic situation.  The review process is required by federal law, which requires states to have child support lawsthat are: (a) applicable state wide; (b) take into consideration the non-custodial parents earnings and income; (c) are based on specific numeric and descriptive criteria; (d) results in a computation of the child support obligation; and (e) are reviewed and if necessary, revised, at least once every four years.

It is appears that there will be changes to the maximum combined gross income for child support and there will be changes to definitions to gross income when calculating Arizona child support awards. For example, one proposal is to indicate that cash value may be assigned to in-kind or other non-cash benefits for recurring contributions from any sources that reduce living expenses as opposed to making that a "shall" provision. A revised chart is being proposed for use in terms of defining adjustments for support of other children. These would be children for which the parent is legally obligated to support including children being supported by court order. There will also be provisions as proposed in the new guidelines to discuss situations when a parent's income as the obligor is over $12,000 monthly. Recognition of possible changes to Arizona Child Support Guidelines is important.

As more information becomes available, we will continue to let you know how these changes could affect you.  In the meantime, if you need any assistance with Arizona child support issues, contact Nirenstein Garnice Soderquist PLC.

 

Arizona Child Support

In Arizona, the legislature has indicated that the goal of the Arizona child support statute is to ensure that the amount of child support ordered approximates what would have been spent on a child if the family remained intact and were living together.  The Arizona child support guidelines were created to establish a standard and uniform method for calculating child support.  The Guidelines apply to all children and parents in Arizona and are only deviated from under special circumstances.

If you would like more information on Arizona child support, please contact Nirenstein Garnice Soderquist PLC.

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Economic Downturn Favorable To "Monied Spouses"

While some couples are putting off divorce because they can’t afford it, the situation is different for moneyed clients. Since their assets are worth less, a lot of monied spouses believe the time is ripe to divorce because they will have to give less to the other spouse.  This may be especially true where the more financially empowered spouse wants to keep the marital residence and their 401(k) and other retirement plans.

Nurse Dissapears After Child Support Win

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nonnie Dotson, a nurse in the U.S. Air Force, was decompressing from a hard-fought child support battle when she disappeared hundreds of miles from her home base.

Dotson, 33, was staying with her brother at his home outside Denver, Colorado, when she vanished on November 19, 2006. She was supposed to meet friends at the mall for a smoothie.

She never showed.

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Paternity Actions

A paternity action, a court suit filed to have a man declared the father of a child, can be brought by either the mother or the father. Paternity actions are sometimes called establishment hearings, filiation hearings, or parentage actions.

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I think our existing child support order is unfair. How can I change it?

You and your child's other parent may agree to modify the child support terms, but even an agreed-upon modification for child support must be approved by a judge to be legally enforceable.

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Can the court base its child support order on what I am able to earn, as opposed to what I'm actually earning?

n most states, the judge can examine a parent's ability to earn as well as what the parent is actually earning. The judge may order higher child support if there is a discrepancy. Actual earnings are an important factor in determining a person's ability to earn, but they are not conclusive where there is evidence that a person could earn more, if he or she chose to do so.

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Will the court consider high living expenses such as loan payments and income taxes when determining one's ability to pay child support?

A court looks at the payer's gross income from all sources, less any mandatory deductions (income taxes, Social Security, health care, and mandatory union dues). The result is the payer's net income.

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What Qualifies as Child Support?

In order to qualify as child support, the payments received by an ex-spouse must be designated as child support in the divorce or separation agreement. If the agreement lumps the payments together as "family support" or "alimony," or doesn't otherwise designate a specific portion of each payment as child support, none of the payment will be considered child support for tax purposes.

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What is a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Clause?

A COLA clause in a child support order means that payments are to increase annually at a rate equal to the annual cost of living increase, as determined by an economic indicator (such as the Consumer Price Index). Some judges include COLAs in their orders when setting child support. This eliminates the need for any modification requests based solely on cost of living increases.

How do I get child support out of my bankrupt ex-husband?

QUESTION:

A bankruptcy court just notified me that my ex-husband is filing for Chapter 7. I am one of his creditors, because: a) he owes back child support, including for medical bills, b) he's not paying current child support, and c) when we divorced, he was ordered to pay me $2,700 to equally divide our property. Will he be able to wiggle out of these debts? The court notice said I should speak with a lawyer, but I can't afford one.

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How long must parents support their children?

Biological parents and adoptive parents must support a child until:

  • the child reaches the age of majority (and sometimes longer if the child has special needs or is in college)
  • the child is on active military duty
  • the parents' rights and responsibilities are terminated (for example, when a child is adopted), or
  • the child has been declared emancipated by a court. (Emancipation can occur when a minor has demonstrated freedom from parental control or support and an ability to be self-supporting.)

Who is legally recognized as a child's father?

The question "Who is the father?" is not as simple a question as you might think. There are important legal distinctions between different situatio

Acknowledged Father

An acknowledged father is any biological father of a child born to unmarried parents for whom paternity has been established by either the admission of the father or the agreement of the parents. An acknowledged father must pay child support.ns relating to paternity.

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