Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
My wife was paying her ex-husband $300 in child support. The courts reduced it to $220 effective 11/01/09. So we have overpaid $400 through March. He said that he does not have to pay that back support until her entire support obligigation is completed (i.e. the kids are 18). Is that correct?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Generally, this is not correct. His obligation to reimburse the overpayment is independent of her obligation to pay ongoing support. You may be able to ask the court to reduce her monthly payment by a certain amount each month until the overpayment is reimbursed in full, but you shouldn't expect that the court will order him to reimburse you in a lump sum. You should consider offering him some sort of repayment plan that the two of you can settle on (e.g. instead of splitting the kids' medical expenses 50/50 -or by whatever proportion they currently do-, he can pay $400 toward her share of expenses, and then they can return to the original arrangement. Involving the court is probably not the most efficient way to go over a $400 dispute, but the judge will get involved if necessary.