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Free or reduced fee legal help might be available for those that qualify. Click below or call 866-637-5341 to check eligibility.
Looking for court forms or information about representing yourself in a court case? Visit AzCourtHelp:
ARIZONA CIVIL LEGAL NEEDS COMMUNITY SURVEY
Civil legal organizations in Arizona are seeking your input to increase their ability to meet the civil legal needs of Arizona's lower income residents. Please complete this survey to assist in improving civil legal services in Arizona.
Civil legal organizations in Arizona are seeking your input to increase their ability to meet the civil legal needs of Arizona's lower income residents. Please complete this survey to assist in improving civil legal services in Arizona.
Arizona Legal Needs Survey Need Court Help? Need Court info?Question: father is not paying court ordered support, how do I file for contempt of court
Answer:
Note: Child support and visitation are two totally separate areas of family law and visitation cannot be denied because the non-custodial parent is behind on his or her child support payments. The answer to this question depends upon whether the person who has custody is receiving public assistance.
If the person is receiving public assistance, the federal government requires the state government to enforce child support orders under the federal law, referred to as IV-D (4D). Under Arizona law for enforcing IV-D, the Arizona Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) has the authority to collect child support from non-custodial parents. There are a number of ways that the DCSE can enforce a child support order and collect current and past due child support, such as: income withholding of wages, new hire reporting, liens against real and personal property, unemployment insurance benefits, workers’ compensation, suspension of driver’s license, suspension of professional and occupational licenses, suspension of recreational licenses, passport denial, federal tax offset, Arizona Department of Revenue State Tax Refund Offset, Federal Administrative Payment Offset, lottery winning offset, financial institution data match (lien and levy), and credit bureau reporting. (A.R.S. § 25-520) For more detailed descriptions of enforcement and other helpful information, visit The Division of Child Support Enforcement online.
It is important to be aware that the child support program cannot make any non-custodial parent pay child support. Child support collection is a process. A support order must be obtained through the court before an individual can apply for help in having that order enforced. Enforcement of an order depends on being able to find the non-custodial parent AND on that person having resources – such as income, bank accounts, property, an income tax refund, etc. – that can be used to pay the support due. This is why it is so important that custodial parents provide as much information as possible as to the location and resources of the non-custodial parent. The DCSE will assist any person with custody of a child who needs assistance in establishing a child support or medical support order, or a parent who needs help to collect payments if that person is receiving public assistance. This person may be a custodial parent, a caretaker or caretaker relative with physical custody of a child(ren), an alleged father wanting to establish paternity, or a non-custodial parent.
If the custodial parent is receiving public assistance from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Medicaid, or federally-assisted Foster Care, he or she is automatically referred to the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) for services. For those who live out of state, he or she may apply for services, but in most cases it is more convenient to apply in the state in which the custodial parent resides. The procedure to seek assistance of the DCSE in enforcement is as follows: