I previously wrote about a planned major overhaul of the Arizona Child Support Guidelines. Those revamped Guidelines have been tabled for now. As new information becomes available on the significant restructuring of the Guidelines that was proposed last year, I will post it on this blog.For now, the underlying methodology of the Arizona Child Support Guidelines remains unchanged. The table of obligations has been updated; the basic child support amounts on the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations have been increased slightly. The self-support reserve has been increased to $903 per month.The most significant change in my opinion is the addition of language to Section 20 of the Guidelines dealing with deviations. The new language states that, “In cases with significant disparity of income between the custodial and noncustodial parent, a deviation may be appropriate.” Interestingly, the overhauled guidelines that were drafted last year and then put on hold would have created substantial increases in child support in cases where parenting time was equally shared but where there existed a large disparity in the parents’ incomes. This new Section 20 language may have been included as a means to accomplish the same purpose (shifting more dollars into the low-income parent’s home) but without the complete overhaul. In any case, this language is sure to lead to more child support cases being litigated in court rather than settled.The revised Guidelines will apply to all child support orders ENTERED after May 31, 2011, regardless of when the child support establishment or modification case was filed.Copyright © 2011 by Scoresby Family Law – J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.