The Arizona Republic reports state Representatives passed a bill this week approving retroactive child support payments. Get more details here.
Kelsey Fischer, Family Law Attorney at Rose Law Group, tells RLGR, “Arizona family law has always been about balancing responsibility with reality. HB 2144 raises more than a policy question; it presents a structural question in handling current legal precedent with possible changing legal definitions. In family law matters, labels matter and so does timing.
Child support traditionally follows legal parentage and a legally recognized child, by moving that framework to the point of a positive pregnancy test introduces unresolved issues of paternity, due process, and statutory consistency. However well-intentioned, any expansion of support obligations will need to withstand not just practical scrutiny in the courtroom but constitutional scrutiny in light of Arizona Proposition 139 and the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
