Learn When Child Support Ends in Arizona

Child Support Age Limit in Arizona

One of the most common concerns after a divorce is when child support payments will end. Some people are worried about life changes that have made child support payments or spousal support an impossibility to maintain as designated in the original divorce decree.

Request for modification changes child support. In other cases, parents may not have discussed an end to child support payments. Some people ask whether there is an age limit on child support? Does the order to pay child support eventually expire? And, if so, what age is the expiration date? As you may know, parents are required by law to financially support their children.

But it is important to know your rights regarding when your Arizona child support obligation is fulfilled. For parents of multiple children, there will be multiple dates on which the child support obligation will decrease and eventually (when the last child becomes of age) expire completely.

But just as important as knowing your rights is remembering that you must follow the procedure as required by the Arizona Child Support Guidelines to protect your rights as a parent and terminate your child support obligation at the appropriate time and in the correct manner.

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Arizona Child Support Age Limit.

Arizona Child Support Age Limit | When Child Support Stops

In Arizona, a parent’s obligation to pay child support terminates or “expires” on the last day of the month in which the child turns 18 years old unless the child is still in high school. If the child is still in high school when they turn 18, the parent’s obligation to pay child support continues until the child graduates from high school or turns 19 years old.

Exceptions to these guidelines can be made for special needs children who are unable to support themselves due to their disability and who, therefore, need additional time in the home with the financial support of their parents.

If you have a child order or Order of Assignment that was entered after January 1^st, 2005, it most likely contains the date on which the child support order automatically terminates or expires. But even if the date is listed, it is still the parent’s responsibility to make sure the child support order and Wage Assignment are stopped.

Unpaid child support or child support in arrears is still due even if the child has reached an age of majority and/or the child support order has been terminated. Parents paying support for multiple children will need to file a Petition to terminate child support when each child reaches the age of 18 and graduates high school. It is not, generally speaking, automatically lowered.

Call us at (480)305-8300 to schedule your personalized consultation with one of our divorce attorneys with experience in valuing a professional practice in divorce in Arizona.

Chris Hildebrand

Chris Hildebrand wrote this article about child support to ensure everyone has access to information about child support laws in Arizona. Chris is a divorce and child support attorney at Hildebrand Law, PC. He has over 24 years of Arizona family law experience and has received multiple awards, including US News and World Report “Top Arizona Divorce Attorneys”, Phoenix Magazine “Top Divorce Law Firms”, and Arizona Foothills Magazine “Best of the Valley” award. He believes the policies and procedures he uses to get his clients through a divorce should all be guided by the principles of honesty, integrity, and actually caring about what his clients are going through in a child support case.