Ending a child support obligation in Arizona takes paperwork, and the Arizona child support termination forms you need depend on two questions: is there an Income Withholding Order on file, and does the other parent agree that support should stop? The answers point you to one of three form packets through the Superior Court. Support does not end on its own when a child turns 18. Without a signed court order, the obligation can keep accruing and an employer can keep withholding wages.
Check Your Income Withholding Order Before Filing Anything
Pull your existing Income Withholding Order and look at the dates. If it was issued after January 1, 2005, it may already carry an automatic stop date. If that date is correct, you do not need to file anything with the court to end withholding.1Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to Stop an Income Withholding Order When Both Parties Agree Confirm with the payroll department handling the deductions so they actually stop on that date.
If the order has no automatic stop date, or if the date it lists is wrong (for example, it ignores the high-school extension that runs support past age 18 until graduation or the 19th birthday), you need to file to correct or stop it.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-320 – Child Support; Factors; Methods of Payment; Additional Enforcement Provisions; Definitions
Forms When Both Parents Agree and an Income Withholding Order Exists
This is the simplest path and the cheapest. You prepare four documents, all available through the Maricopa County Superior Court’s self-service center (other Arizona counties offer similar packets through the local clerk or the Arizona Judicial Branch website):1Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to Stop an Income Withholding Order When Both Parties Agree
- Notice of Lodging, which alerts the court that an agreement is coming for the judge’s review.
- Agreement to Stop Income Withholding Order, the core document, signed by both parents in front of a court clerk or notary.
- Order Stopping Income Withholding Order, the proposed order for the judge to sign.
- Current Employer Information Sheet, which tells the court where deductions are being sent so the employer can be notified to stop.
Both parents sign the agreement. If the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) was involved in the case, a DES representative also has to sign. Prepare four sets of the documents: originals for the court and judge, plus copies for yourself and the other parent.
Two conditions must be true to use this agreed packet: the paying parent either owes no further support or the obligation will end within 90 days of filing, and no arrears for child support or spousal maintenance are outstanding.1Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to Stop an Income Withholding Order When Both Parties Agree If arrears exist, pay them off or work out a separate arrangement first; the agreed forms are not available to you otherwise.
Forms When the Other Parent Does Not Agree
If the other parent won’t sign, you file a contested petition instead. The self-service center provides a Petition to Stop Income Withholding Order packet for this situation.3Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Stop an Income Withholding Order When Parties Do Not Agree The same eligibility rules apply: no money owed under the order (or the obligation ends within 90 days), and no arrears outstanding.
The real difference is procedural. You must formally serve the other parent with the filed petition and all supporting documents, either through a private process server or by certified mail with return receipt requested. After service, file an Affidavit of Service with the court. The judge will not act until that affidavit is on file.
Forms When No Income Withholding Order Exists
If support was never collected through wage withholding, you generally file a petition to modify or terminate the support order directly. The exact form varies by county, so check with your local Superior Court clerk’s office. The petition should include the ground for termination, the child’s date of birth and graduation date if the high-school extension applies, the existing case number, and a declaration that no arrears are owed.
Filing Fees
Filing an Agreement to Stop an Income Withholding Order costs nothing.1Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to Stop an Income Withholding Order When Both Parties Agree If this is the first time either party has filed anything in the case, a one-time appearance fee may apply.
A contested postadjudication petition in a domestic relations case costs $102.4Arizona Judicial Branch. Superior Court Filing Fees If you cannot afford it, request a fee waiver or deferral using the Application for Deferral or Waiver of Court Fees or Costs, available through the Arizona Judicial Branch website.5Arizona Judicial Branch. Fee Waiver and Deferral Forms
What Happens After You File
For an agreed filing, the clerk routes the signed documents to a judge for signature. No hearing is scheduled unless the judge has a question. Get a stamped copy of the signed order for your records and for the payroll department handling withholding.
For a contested petition, the other parent has 20 days to file a response if served inside Arizona, 30 days if served outside the state.6New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure – Rule 24.1 Time for Filing and Serving a Response to a Petition If no response comes, you can ask the court for a default order. If the other parent disputes the termination, the court will set a hearing.
The support obligation does not legally end until a judge signs the final Order Terminating Child Support or the Order Stopping Income Withholding Order. Do not stop making payments before that signed order is in hand. Stopping early risks a contempt finding and fresh arrears.
Multi-Child Orders, Disabled Adult Children, and Arrears
When a single order covers more than one child, support does not drop off automatically as each child ages out. The paying parent has to file a modification petition to reduce the amount. Arizona does not allow retroactive modifications: any change takes effect on the first day of the month after the other parent receives notice of the petition.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-503 – Order for Support; Methods of Payment; Modification; Termination; Statute of Limitations Waiting until the youngest ages out means years of overpayment with no refund.
Support can be ordered to continue past 18 if the child has a severe mental or physical disability that prevents independent living and began before the child turned 18.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-320 – Child Support; Factors; Methods of Payment; Additional Enforcement Provisions; Definitions If this applies, a termination filing will likely be denied. Custodial parents in this situation may need to file a separate petition to extend support before it lapses.
Terminating ongoing support does not erase past-due balances. Each missed payment becomes a final judgment the moment it comes due, and those judgments never expire.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-503 – Order for Support; Methods of Payment; Modification; Termination; Statute of Limitations Wage garnishment, tax intercepts, and other enforcement tools can continue long after the child turns 18.
DCSS Cases Require a Separate Closure Form
If the case is managed through the Arizona Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), closing the DCSS case is separate from terminating the court order. You close it by submitting a Request to Close Child Support Case form (CSE-1160A) directly to DCSS.8Arizona Department of Economic Security. CSE-1160A – Request to Close Child Support Case Closing the DCSS case stops enforcement services such as credit reporting, asset seizure, automatic income withholding, and tax or lottery intercepts, but payments still flow through the state’s centralized disbursement unit, and the underlying court order remains in effect until you file the appropriate termination forms with the Superior Court.