When custody is decided, how does a parent obtain child support?
The law provides that when the court grants a custody order, it also must decide what amount of child support should be paid, by each parent, under the Arizona Child Support Guidelines. Joint custody does NOT mean that either parent is no longer responsible to provide for the support of the child. Can a person other than a parent have custody? Yes. The law provides that a person who stands in loco parentis to a child may ask the court for custody (or parenting time). To be in loco parentis a person must have been treated as a parent by the child and have formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. There are other requirements that must be met before a request may be made to the court. One of the child’s parents must be deceased, the child’s legal parents must be unmarried, or a court case for divorce or legal separation between the legal parents must be pending (see section 25-415, Arizona Revised Statutes). How can a parent obtain school,
