Phoenix, AZ asked in Family Law and Child Support for Arizona

Q: Question regaeding affidavit of financial information for child support case.

Am I required to provide my husband's income in the affidavit of financial information for child support? Will they count his income and reduce bio dad's child support obligation? Legally my husband is only responsible for our 4 children, bio dad should be responsible for our shared child, I do not understand why I must include my husband's income on this form and need to know if it is mandatory that I provide this information for our child support case. Bio dad abandoned my daughter for 7 years, has never supported her financially and still refuses to provide financially, unless ordered through court. He is trying to pay least amount possible for child support by attempting to use his 18 year old son as credit. Any insight on this situation would be much appreciated, thank you!

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Yes, you are required to report it as part of the Affidavit of Financial Information. Under Rule 49(e) of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, a party in a child support case must complete an AFI that conforms with Form 2 of Rule 97. That form, which is probably what you're filling out, requires this information. Therefore, it is mandatory.

But his income does not count as income to you. See Arizona Child Support Guidelines, Sect. II-A-2-c ("If a person does not have a legal duty to support a child, that person's income is not included as Child Support Income. For example, income of a parent's new spouse, a stepparent, is not included in any calculations."). There's also case law that's very clear on this point.

So why is it included on the AFI? One, it's meant to be a way to check if the information you are providing is accurate. When we see expenses substantially greater than income, it raises questions as to whether income is being accurately reported. Knowing that a spouse may be paying can help explain such a discrepancy.

Two, the AFI is meant to cover more situations than just child support. Your spouse's income is relevant to the issue of attorney's fees.

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Let me address a few other items you raise:

The Father's duty to support his 18-year-old son only terminates if his son has graduated high school. If his son is 18 and a high school graduate, he is emancipated, and Father is no longer legally required to support him, and it should not count as an offset. But if his son is not a high school graduate, Father is legally required to support him until he turns 19.

You mention Father "abandoned" your daughter for seven years. That's only relevant to the current matter if this is the first time child support is being addressed and only if you are seeking back child support.

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