Title 25 — Marital and Domestic Relations

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Arrearage" means the total unpaid support owed, including child support, past support, spousal maintenance and interest. 2. "Business day" means a day when state offices are open for regular business. 3. "Child support g…

A. Except as provided in subsection F of this section, every person has the duty to provide all reasonable support for that person's natural and adopted minor, unemancipated children, regardless of the presence or residence of the child in this state. In the case of children with…

A. The superior court has original jurisdiction in proceedings brought by the department, its agents, a person having physical custody of a child or a party to the case to establish, enforce or modify the duties of support as prescribed in this chapter. All such proceedings are c…

A. In any proceeding in which there is at issue the support of a child, the court may order either or both parents to pay any amount necessary for the support of the child. If the court order does not specify the date when current support begins, the support obligation begins to …

A. On a showing of good cause, the court may order that a self-employed parent who is required to make child support payments forward an amount equal to not more than six months of child support to the department to hold as security. The department shall release these monies to c…

A. In a proceeding in which the court orders a person to pay support the court shall, and in a proceeding in which the court orders a person to pay spousal maintenance the court may, assign to the person or agency entitled to receive the support or spousal maintenance that portio…

A. The department or its agent may issue a limited income withholding order to any employer, payor or other holder of a nonperiodic or lump sum payment that is owed or held for the benefit of an obligor. The department or its agent shall serve the order in the same manner as pres…

A. In a title IV-D case, if a person is obligated to pay support, the department or its agent, without prior notice to the obligor, shall issue an income withholding order using the format prescribed by the United States secretary of health and human services. The order shall inc…

A. Before remitting a payment under an insurance contract to a claimant whose claim is based on an accident or a loss that occurred in this state, an insurer authorized to transact insurance pursuant to title 20, chapter 2, article 1 may provide information to the department or i…

A. A petition for an ex parte order for assignment may be filed by an agency based on an order for support issued by a court or an agency in a state other than this state. The petition shall include the information required by section 25-504 and the following documents: 1. A cert…

A. The request for assignment, order of assignment, notices to obligor and employer, request for hearing and request to adjust or terminate the order of assignment shall be on forms prescribed by the supreme court and shall be furnished by the clerk of the superior court as requi…

A. Any judgment, order or decree, whether arising from a dissolution, divorce, separation, annulment, custody determination, paternity or maternity determination or dependency proceeding or from a uniform interstate enforcement of support act proceeding and any interlocutory supp…

A. The attorney general or county attorney on behalf of this state may initiate an action or intervene in an action to establish, modify or enforce a duty of child support, including medical support, regardless of the welfare or nonwelfare status of the person to whom the duty of…

A. The support payment clearinghouse established pursuant to section 46-441 shall receive and disburse all monies, including fees and costs, applicable to support and maintenance unless the court has ordered that support or maintenance be paid directly to the party entitled to re…

A. Except as provided in section 25-501, subsection F, any parent of a minor child who knowingly fails to furnish reasonable support for the parent's child is guilty of a class 6 felony. B. It is an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of subsection A of this section th…

A person who is obligated to pay spousal maintenance pursuant to an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor if the person has notice of the order and wilfully and without lawful excuse fails to comply with the terms of that order.

A. A consumer reporting agency as defined in title 44, chapter 11, article 6 shall include as part of a consumer report information regarding: 1. A court order or judgment obligating a person to pay child support or spousal maintenance. 2. A court order for assignment under secti…

A. On written request delivered to an employer, payor or self-employed person by the department or its agent or the child support enforcement entity of any other state or its agent that administers a child support enforcement program as required by title IV-D of the social securi…

Except as otherwise provided by statute, actions pursuant to this article shall be given priority over all other civil actions. Except for judgments foreclosing or enforcing prior recorded mortgages, deeds of trust, contracts or conveyance of real property, security agreements, o…

A. Notwithstanding section 25-514, in a title IV-D case an order to pay child support creates a lien by operation of law on all property presently owned and later acquired by the obligor to secure payment of the obligation. The department may perfect a lien by filing a copy of th…

A. The department or its agent shall notify an obligor who is at least six months in arrears in making child support payments, periodic payments on a support arrearage or periodic payments pursuant to a court order of support that the obligor may be referred to court for a hearin…

A. If a court finds from the evidence presented at a hearing to enforce a child support order that the obligor has wilfully failed to pay child support, continues after notice pursuant to section 25-517, subsection A to wilfully fail to pay child support and is at least six month…

The following are subject to the requirements of section 25-518: 1. All boards established under title 32. 2. The deputy director of the financial institutions division of the department of insurance and financial institutions. 3. The registrar of contractors. 4. The department o…

A. In a title IV-D case the department or its agent may issue a subpoena to a person or entity believed to have information needed for the establishment of paternity or the establishment, modification or enforcement of a child support order, requiring appearance before the depart…

A. If there is a court ordered judgment or if the obligor is in arrears in an amount equal to twelve months of support, the department may issue a levy and collect the amount owed by the obligor by levy on all property and rights to property not exempt under federal or state law.…

A. An obligor may contest an enforcement action by the department or its agent by filing a request for administrative review. An obligee may contest the distribution or disbursement of support payments by the department or its agent by filing a request for administrative review. …

A. The department shall enter into agreements with financial institutions that conduct business in this state to develop and operate a data match system to assist the department in the establishment, modification and enforcement of child support orders. The data match system shal…

A. On receipt of a notice of lien or levy a financial institution shall encumber or surrender, as appropriate, assets held by the institution on behalf of an obligor. B. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a financial institution is not subject to civil liability for encumbe…

A. The department or its agent shall respond promptly to a request made by a title IV-D agency in another state to enforce a support order. The department shall use high volume automated administrative enforcement to the same extent as used for intrastate cases in response to a r…

The department of economic security division of child support enforcement shall post information on the internet on a quarterly basis that identifies no fewer than ten nonpayors of child support who have an arrearage in an amount equal to or greater than twelve months of support.…

A. An obligor whose obligation to pay support has terminated may file a request for reimbursement against the obligee for support payments made in excess of the amount ordered. The obligor must file the request with the clerk of the superior court within twenty-four months after …

A. If a recipient of title IV-D services receives at least $550 of support in a federal fiscal year and the recipient has never received assistance under a state or tribal title IV-A program, the department shall charge an annual fee as prescribed in 42 United States Code section…

The director of the department of economic security may disseminate information provided by the department of insurance and financial institutions regarding individual medical insurance plans and may enter into agreements with a consortium of other states to offer medical insuran…

A. In determining whether to award spousal maintenance or the amount of any award of spousal maintenance to a requesting party, the court shall not consider any federal disability benefits awarded to the other spouse for service-connected disabilities pursuant to 10 United States…

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Court or administrative order" means a court or administrative agency ruling that requires a parent to provide support for that parent's child. 2. "Health insurance coverage" means fee for service, health maintenance org…

A. An insurer shall not deny a child enrollment under the health plan of the child's parent for any of the following reasons: 1. The child was born out of wedlock. 2. The child is not claimed as a dependent on the parent's federal or state tax return. 3. The child does not reside…

A. If a court or administrative order requires a parent to provide health coverage for a child and the parent is eligible for family coverage, the insurer shall: 1. Permit the parent to enroll the child under the family coverage if the child is otherwise eligible for the coverage…

A. If a court or administrative order requires a parent to provide health insurance coverage that is available through an employer doing business in this state, the employer shall: 1. Allow that parent to enroll the child in the family coverage if the child is otherwise eligible …

A. In a title IV-D case, a parent who is required by an administrative or court order to provide health insurance coverage for a child shall provide the department or its agent with the name of the health insurance coverage plan under which the child is covered, the effective dat…

The clerk of the court may provide services to assist a person to collect spousal maintenance. These services may include providing information regarding collection and enforcement procedures, intercepting a taxpayer's state income tax refund for collection purposes, providing as…

A. The superior court has original jurisdiction in proceedings brought by this state or a person who is owed spousal maintenance to establish, enforce or modify a spousal maintenance obligation. B. Notwithstanding any other statute, actions pursuant to this article have priority …

A. The person to whom the spousal maintenance obligation is owed may file a request for judgment for spousal maintenance arrearages not later than three years after the date the spousal maintenance order terminates. In that proceeding there is no bar to establishing a money judgm…

A. In any action or proceeding pursuant to section 25-502, on motion of a party or on its own motion the court may issue a child support arrest warrant if the court finds that all of the following apply to the person for whom the warrant is sought: 1. The person was ordered by th…

A. A child support arrest warrant is executed by the arrest of the person named in the warrant. The warrant may be executed at any time. B. When making an arrest pursuant to a child support arrest warrant, the arresting officer shall inform the person named in the warrant that th…

A. When a person who is arrested pursuant to a child support arrest warrant is brought before the court, the judicial officer shall advise the arrested person of the nature of the proceedings and shall set a date for the next court appearance. The arrested person may be released …

A civil arrest warrant that is issued before the effective date of this section for the failure to appear in a child support enforcement proceeding under this chapter or chapter 3 of this title automatically becomes a child support arrest warrant after the effective date of this …

Child support arrest warrants shall be entered in the wanted person file of the Arizona criminal justice information system.