How to modify child support or spousal maintenance in Arizona

Sources last checked: 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.

Arizona divorce kit How child support is calculated Alimony in Arizona Legal aid in Arizona After your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

In Arizona, child support and spousal maintenance are both changed by asking the superior court, and the statute sets a similar test for each: a change in circumstances that is “substantial and continuing”. For child support the test is in section 25-503(E) of the Arizona Revised Statutes. For maintenance it is in section 25-327(A). A change is generally effective from the first day of the month after the other side gets notice of your petition, and support or maintenance that had already fallen due before that notice is not changed. The Arizona Judicial Branch lists statewide forms for changing child support, but we could not open the form files (see below), so we read the Maricopa County Superior Court’s published packets instead: the child support “Simplified Mod” packet and the standard-process packet for spousal maintenance. Those packets are written for Maricopa County orders. Other counties may use different papers.

What the petition can ask for

Child support: section 25-503(E) says an order may be modified or terminated “on a showing of changed circumstance that is substantial and continuing”. Adding health insurance coverage, or a change in its availability, “may constitute a continuing and substantial change in circumstance”. The order may include attorney fees and court costs for the prevailing party.
Spousal maintenance: section 25-327(A) applies the same kind of test to “any decree respecting maintenance or support”, on “changed circumstances that are substantial and continuing”. The Maricopa packet says that if you signed an agreement that said maintenance cannot be changed, the court cannot change the amount.
The fast child support route is not for maintenance: the Maricopa Simplified Mod checklist says not to use it to change spousal support or maintenance, and not if the change would be under 15%.

What else you file

Items below come from the Maricopa County Superior Court packets, which are written for Maricopa County orders. If your order is from another county, ask the clerk which papers that court wants.

Child support, Simplified Mod: a Petition to Modify (Change) Child Support, Simplified Process (form DRMSS11f, 052925), a Child Support Worksheet, a Child Support Order and a Current Employer Information Sheet. The packet says the worksheet is produced with the court’s online calculator.
Spousal maintenance, or maintenance plus child support, standard process: a Petition to Modify a Support Order (form DRMSP11f), an Affidavit of Financial Information (form DROSC13f) and a Current Employer Information Sheet. The packet has a second, blank Affidavit of Financial Information for the other party to complete. If you also ask to change child support, it points you to the Child Support Worksheet instructions.
Oath: the Simplified Mod instructions say to date and sign the petition “in the presence of a Clerk of Superior Court or a Notary Public”.
Service papers: in the Simplified Mod packet, proof of service must reach the court, by an affidavit from the sheriff or process server, or an Acceptance of Service signed by the other party. In the maintenance packet, the papers served include an Order to Appear.

What the statutes and guidelines say

This is a plain-language summary of the Arizona Revised Statutes as we read them on 3 November 2026, with short quotations, and of the Arizona Child Support Guidelines as published in a copy hosted by the Maricopa County Superior Court.

Child support, section 25-503(E): an order may be modified or terminated “on a showing of changed circumstance that is substantial and continuing”, except as to any amount that had already accrued as an arrearage before the date of notice of the motion or order to show cause. Modification and termination take effect on “the first day of the month following notice of the petition”, unless for good cause the court sets a different date “not earlier than the date of filing the petition for modification or termination”.
Child support already due, section 25-503(I): the right to receive support “vests as each installment falls due”, and each vested installment is enforceable as a final judgment by operation of law.
State child support agency cases, section 25-503(G) and (H): in a title IV-D case, a party or the department may request a review “every three years” without showing a changed circumstance. An earlier review requires a showing of a changed circumstance that is substantial and continuing.
Maintenance, section 25-327(A): the same “substantial and continuing” showing, the same exception for amounts that accrued as an arrearage before the date of notice, and the same rule that a modification takes effect on the first day of the month after notice unless the court sets another date for good cause, not earlier than the filing date.
When maintenance ends, section 25-327(B): “Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree”, the duty to pay future maintenance ends on the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving it.
Agreements that bar modification, section 25-317: subsection (A) says a separation agreement “may provide that its maintenance terms shall not be modified”. Subsection (G) says a decree that sets out or incorporates such an agreement “prevents the court from exercising jurisdiction to modify” maintenance, including a decree entered before 20 July 1996.
Deviation from the guidelines, section 25-320(D): the guideline amount is the amount ordered “unless a written finding is made” that applying the guidelines would be inappropriate or unjust in the particular case.
Guidelines, section XIV: child support modification is governed by sections 25-327 and 25-503 and Rules 91 and 91.1 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. The parent who asks for a change “bears the burden of showing” a substantial and continuing change from the date the existing order was filed. There are two routes, a standard procedure and a simplified one.
The 15% rule, sections XIV(C) and XVII(B): the simplified procedure is for a guideline result that “varies 15% or more from the existing amount”, or to assign or change who provides medical insurance, which need not vary by 15%. A 15% variation “is considered evidence of substantial and continuing change of circumstances”. The guidelines call a variance of at least 15% evidence of such a change. They do not say a smaller variance can never qualify.
Hearing request, section XIV(C)(5): a party who disputes a simplified request must ask for a hearing within 20 days of service if service is in Arizona, or within 30 days if service is outside the state. The Maricopa petition form says the same, and warns that if no hearing is requested the court may enter an order.
A child stops being owed support, section XIV(D): if support was ordered for more than one child and the duty for one of them ends, “the order is not automatically reduced”. You must ask the court to modify it.
Current guidelines: the Arizona Judicial Branch page says new guidelines took effect 1 January 2022 (revised 21 September 2022) and that the next quadrennial review was set to begin in January 2024.

Notice, service and hearing

Where to file: the Maricopa packets are for an order from Maricopa County. Both warn that if the order is from another county you should ask a lawyer about the requirements to file in that court.
Child support, Simplified Mod: you file the originals with the Clerk of Superior Court, then serve the other party with the petition and worksheet. The packet allows service by the sheriff, a licensed process server, a commercial delivery service or mail where you get a signature confirmation, or by an Acceptance of Service. The Notice to the Person Filing says that if the other party is not served within 120 days the court will send a Notice of Dismissal, and that with no proof of service the request is dismissed 180 days after filing.
If the State is involved: if either party has a case with the Department of Economic Security or the state child support division involving the same children, the packet says notice must also be given to the Attorney General’s office.
Maintenance, standard process: after you file, the packet tells you to hand-deliver copies to the judges’ in-box with a stamped, self-addressed envelope so an Order to Appear can be mailed to you. You then serve the petition, the affidavit, a blank affidavit and the Order to Appear. The packet says to make good faith efforts to finish service within 10 days after you receive the Order to Appear, and to complete it “no later than 20 days before the hearing”.
Hearing: the maintenance packet tells you to bring the petition, your completed affidavit and proof of service. For simplified child support, if no hearing is requested in time, the court reviews the proof of service and the request and enters an order or sets a hearing. If a hearing is timely requested, the guidelines say “No order may be modified without a hearing”.

Before you file

The Simplified Mod packet says “Consulting a lawyer before filing documents with the court may help” avoid unexpected results. See legal aid in Arizona for free or low-cost help, or the Arizona divorce kit for the wider process.
Back payments: the maintenance packet says its process “cannot be used to modify ARREARS”. It also says that if any modification case is already pending in any court, you cannot file this petition unless you talk to an attorney and the attorney says you can.
Fees: this page does not state a court filing fee. The maintenance instructions say there will be a charge for filing and may be an appearance fee if it is the first paper you have filed in the case, and that if you cannot pay, the amounts may be deferred or waived. The Arizona Judicial Branch has a Fee Waiver and Deferral page.
Check the version: the Simplified Mod packet is marked 052925 and says the documents are current only for the day they were received. The maintenance packet is marked 010126. Check with the clerk that you have the current form.
Child support amounts follow the state guidelines. See how child support is calculated in Arizona and alimony in Arizona.

What we could not confirm

The statewide forms. The Arizona Judicial Branch Modifying Child Support page lists forms DRMSS11I, DRMSS11F and others, but each link opens a Microsoft sign-in page, so we could not read them. We read the Maricopa County versions, which share the same form numbers, and we do not know whether the statewide text matches.
Other counties. We read only Maricopa County materials. Other counties may use other forms, fees, local rules and service steps.
The court rules. The guidelines cite Rules 24.1, 27, 41, 44, 91 and 91.1 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. We did not read the rules themselves.
The exact guidelines copy. We read a copy of the guidelines hosted by the Maricopa Superior Court, filed under a 2022 name. The Judicial Branch page says the current guidelines took effect on 1 January 2022 and were revised on 21 September 2022. We did not confirm that the copy is the revised version, or whether newer guidelines now apply.
Maintenance amounts and the maintenance guidelines. We read section 25-319(B), which says the Supreme Court sets maintenance guidelines. We did not read the Spousal Maintenance Guidelines or how they apply to a modification.
The standard-process child support packet. We read the Simplified Mod packet and the maintenance packet. We did not read Maricopa’s separate packet for changing child support by the standard process.
Court filing and service fees. No official page we read states an amount.
The state child support agency’s own review process. We read only what section 25-503 says about it.

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