Employer Information

If you have an employee who is obligated to pay support pursuant to an Order of Assignment you will receive the order, forms, and instructions. Any employer or other payor of funds shall withhold the amount specified in the Order of Assignment, together with the handling fee as provided in A.R.S. §25-510, from the income of the person obligated to pay support or spousal maintenance. Income means any form of payment owed to an individual, regardless of the source, including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, workers' compensation, disability payments, payments pursuant to a retirement program and interest.

An Order of Assignment for child support has priority over all other executions, attachments or garnishments. An obligation for current child support shall be fully met before any payments pursuant to an Order of Assignment may be applied to any other support obligation. Under state law (section 33-1131, Arizona Revised Statutes) no more than one-half of an obligor's disposable income for any pay period may be taken to satisfy an order issued for support or spousal maintenance. Disposable income means the remaining portion of wages, salary or compensation for personal services, including bonuses and commissions, or otherwise, and includes payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program or a deferred compensation plan, after deducting from such earnings the amounts required by law to be withheld.

If the employee is ordered to pay child support for more than one family and the disposable income amount available for withholding is not sufficient to meet the total combined current child support obligations the employer or payor of funds shall allocate any monies withheld from the obligor's income to each as follows:

• The amount of current child support ordered in each case shall be added together to obtain the total current child support obligation.

• The amount of current child support ordered in each case shall be divided by the total current child support obligation to obtain the percentage of the total current child support obligation to be allocated to each case.

• The amount withheld from the obligor shall be multiplied by the percentage for each case to obtain the amount to be allocated to each case.

To access the interactive Child Support Allocation Worksheet (Click here). Tab through this form and enter the 1) monthly current support amounts from the multiple court orders and 2) the employee's monthly income. With that information the amounts for each court order are calculated for you. Also, a hard copy of the Child Support Allocation Worksheet is included in the Wage Assignment Packet.

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:


• Allow that parent to enroll the child in the family coverage if the child is otherwise eligible for that coverage without regard to any enrollment season restrictions.

• If the parent is enrolled in family coverage but fails to enroll the child, enroll the child under the family coverage on the application of the child's other parent, the child's legal guardian or the state IV-D agency.

• Not allow the employee to refuse to enroll or to terminate the coverage of the child unless the employee provides the employer with written proof that the court or administrative order is no longer in effect or that the child is enrolled in comparable health insurance coverage and that coverage will take effect not later than the effective date of the termination of coverage.

• Withhold the employee's share, if any, of health insurance premiums from the employee's compensation and pay those premiums to the insurer. The amount withheld from the employee's compensation shall not exceed the maximum amount permitted pursuant to section A.R.S.§33-1131.

If an order for medical insurance coverage is in effect and the employment or insurance coverage is terminated or the carrier is changed, within ten days after the change the employer shall notify the other parent and the state IV-D agency (if appropriate) of the change and of the last day on which health insurance coverage is effective and of any conversion privileges that may be available. If the employer offers more than one plan, the child shall be enrolled in the plan in which the child's parent is enrolled or, if the parent is not enrolled in a plan, in the least costly plan that is otherwise available to the parent.

If the obligee of a child support order marries the obligor of the child support order, that order automatically terminates on the last day of the month in which the marriage takes place and arrearages do not accrue after that date. However, the obligee or the state may collect child support arrearages that accrued before that date. The obligee, the obligor or the department or its agent in a title IV-D case may file a request or stipulation to terminate or adjust any existing order of assignment, pursuant to A.R.S.§25-504 or A.R.S. §25-505.01.