The Question:
Any thoughts on how to get child support omitted or decreased?
RJ Says:
Child Support in Arizona is based upon a formula. The factors considered include (1) the parents’ respective incomes; (2) whether either parent has additional children or support obligations; (3) how much is daycare and who pays; (4) how much is health insurance and who pays; (5) does any child have special needs; and (6) how much time does the non-custodial parent spend with the children. You can run some scenarios on the Arizona Supreme Court website. There is a free Child Support Calculator there. If you use correct figures, it can tell you exactly what a Judge will order for child support.
So, so long as we are all using the correct figures, everybody should come up with the same child support figure. We cannot force him to accept a lesser figure. However, sometimes we can entice them to do so.
It is very risky to do so, because child support is always modifiable. This means that if we were able to convince him to accept a lesser amount, and you give up some permanent right, he could always come back and modify child support. It is not permissible under Arizona law for us to prohibit him from seeking a future modification.