Effect of Employment Benefits on Child Support in Arizona

It is important to understand the effect of employment benefits on child support in Arizona. The purpose of the Arizona child support laws is to establish a standard of support for children consistent with the reasonable needs of children and the ability of parents to pay.

The law says that virtually all income earned by a parent must be considered by the divorce court making a child support award.

It also says: “Cash value shall be assigned to in-kind or other non-cash benefits.” The Arizona Court of Appeals addressed the effect of employment benefits on child support in Arizona.

In the case of Patterson v. Patterson, 248 P.3d 204 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2011), the Arizona Court of Appeals discussed whether the divorce court should include the value of a military father’s free, on-base housing as income when calculating child support.

Raquel Helena Patterson and Shawn Jamaal Patterson were married for nine years before they divorced. Shawn was a Sergeant in the Air Force and had free, on-base housing. The divorce court judge refused to include the value of Shawn’s free housing in his gross income for child support purposes. Raquel appealed, arguing that it should have been considered.

Effect of Housing Benefits on Child Support

Although Raquel specifically requested that the value of Shawn’s free, military housing be included in his income for child support purposes, the court refused to do so. It said that the value of housing was not money received by Shawn and that military housing was never included.

The Court of Appeals noted that Arizona law provides that “expense reimbursements or benefits received by a parent in the course of employment … shall be counted as income if they are significant and reduce personal living expenses.”

Under this law, Arizona family law courts include in a parent’s gross income work benefits that are not paid in cash, like an employer’s contributions to a parent’s retirement plan and health-insurance premiums. The value of these benefits is counted in the parent’s gross income if the family court finds that they are “significant and reduce personal living expenses.”

The Court of Appeals reviewed cases in other states and found that many included the value of free housing in gross income for child-support purposes. Some of these cases involved military housing. After this review of Arizona law and cases from other jurisdictions, the Court of Appeals decided that the Patterson divorce court should not have simply excluded this income.

Rather, it was obliged to determine the value of Shawn’s on-base housing, and then consider whether that value was significant and reduced his personal living expenses. If so, the value of the on-base housing could constitute an “in-kind or another non-cash benefit” that should be included in his income when the court calculated child support.

Other Articles About Child Support in Arizona

• Arizona Child Support Laws
• Arizona Child Support Calculator
• Arizona Uniform Interstate Family Support Act Statutes
• Arizona Child Support
• Back Child Support in Arizona
• Calculating Income for Child Support in Arizona
• Child Support and an Unemployed Parent in Arizona
• Child Support Enforcement in Arizona
• Domesticate Child Support Order in Arizona
• How is Child Support Calculated in Arizona
• How is Income Calculated for Child Support in Arizona
• How to Enforce a Child Support Order in Arizona
• How To Enforce Child Support in Arizona
• How to Make Child Support Payments in Arizona
• How to Modify Child Support Order in Arizona
• Modification of Child Support in Arizona
• Modify or Enforce Other State Support Order in Arizona
• Prescott Arizona Modification of Child Support
• Registering Support Order From Another State In Arizona
• The Standard Procedure to Modify Child Support in Arizona
• What is a Wage Assignment in Arizona
• What Is Considered Gross Income for Arizona Child Support in Arizona
• What is Included in an Arizona Child Support Order
• When Does Child Support End in Arizona
• Modification of Child Support When Neither Parent Lives in Arizona

Scottsdale Arizona Divorce Attorney.

Chris Hildebrand wrote the information on this page about the effect of employment benefits on the calculation of child support in Arizona to ensure everyone has access to information about family law in Arizona. Chris is a divorce and family law 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, quite frankly, actually caring about what his clients are going through in a divorce or family law case. In short, his practice is defined by the success of his clients. He also manages all of the other attorneys at his firm to make sure the outcomes in their clients’ cases are successful as well.

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