Arizona Laws 46-404. Notice; service; order
A. At any time after the department is assigned support rights or a public assistance payment is made, the director may issue a notice to be served upon the absent parent in the manner prescribed for service or summons in a civil action.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 46-404
- Absent parent: means the non-custodial natural or adoptive father or mother of a dependent child. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- assistance: means any money payments made by the department that are paid to or for the benefit of any dependent child as provided in chapter 2, article 5 of this title. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Court: means any court in this or any other state having jurisdiction to determine the liability of persons for the support of another person. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Court order: means any judgment or order of any court that orders payment of a set or determinable amount of support money. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Department: means the Arizona department of economic security. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Director: means the director of the department of economic security or the director's designee or authorized representative. See Arizona Laws 46-402
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
B. The notice shall include:
1. The name of the dependent child or children for whom support is to be paid.
2. A statement that the department intends to review the absent parents’ support obligation.
3. A statement that within ten days after service, he may contact the department office which served the notice to review his financial status.
4. A statement that the absent parent is required to notify the department of any change of address or employment.
5. A statement that if the absent parent has any questions, he should contact the department office serving the notice or respond through an attorney.
C. The department and the absent parent may enter into an agreement in which they stipulate as to the amount of support and method of payment that the absent parent shall pay monthly to the clerk of the court. The department, through the county attorney, shall petition the superior court for an order approving the stipulation and such order shall be enforced by the county attorney.
D. Failure to respond to the notice will result in referral to the county attorney for further action.
E. Failure to reach agreement on the amount of support which is to be paid will result in the matter being referred to the county attorney for further action.
F. A court order entered pursuant to this chapter does not nullify and is not nullified by a court order made pursuant to any other law except that a court having jurisdiction to do so may modify a prior court order by expressly stating so within its order. Amounts paid pursuant to a court order entered pursuant to this chapter for a particular period shall be credited against amounts accruing or accrued for the same period under any other court order.