Arizona’s minimum wage rose to $15.15 per hour on January 1, 2026, a 45-cent increase from 2025’s rate of $14.70. For parents who are unemployed or underemployed and subject to a child support order, the new wage floor directly changes how much income a family court can assume they’re capable of earning.
An experienced family law attorney can examine your specific situation and explain the impact this change may have. Understanding the family court’s requirements for income and what triggers a modification of your child support order is critical.
What “Imputed Income” Means in Arizona Family Court
Under Arizona’s Income Shares Model, a parent doesn’t need to actually earn money for the court to assign them an income figure. When a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed (as opposed to circumstances beyond their control) the court can “impute” income based on what that parent is capable of earning, not what they report earning.
According to the Arizona Judicial Branch’s own guidance, gross income for these purposes includes:
- Wages
- Salaries
- Commissions
- Bonuses
- Pensions
- Unemployment insurance benefits
- Self-employment income
Excluded from this calculation are means-tested public benefits such as TANF, SSI, WIC, food stamps, and General Assistance. When there isn’t enough documented income to work with because a parent quit a job, is working fewer hours than they’re capable of, or simply hasn’t provided verification, the guidelines direct the court to fall back on a wage floor rather than treat the parent as having no earning capacity at all.
The floor is full-time minimum wage. Courts may now impute about $2,626 per month, the full time wage at $15.15 per hour, up from $2,547 under 2025’s $14.70 rate, meaning a higher assumed income and potentially higher support obligation.
The Self-Support Reserve Still Protects the Paying Parent
The guidelines don’t let imputation push a paying parent below subsistence. Arizona’s guidelines include a self-support reserve commonly described as roughly 80 percent of full-time minimum wage earnings, so a parent ordered to pay support retains enough monthly income to cover basic living expenses. If support would drop a parent’s net income below that reserve, courts must adjust the order. As the 2026 minimum wage rises, this reserve amount rises with it, which can work in favor of lower income obligors even as the baseline increases.
Rebutting the Presumption of Income
Imputation isn’t automatic or irreversible. Parents who are unemployed for reasons genuinely outside their control can present evidence to rebut the presumption that they’re voluntarily underemployed. These reasons may include:
- a documented disability
- an ongoing job search after a layoff
- caregiving responsibilities for a child with special needs
- a lack of available work in their area
Arizona family law attorneys advise clients to keep records of job applications, medical documentation, layoff notices, and anything else that shows the gap between capacity and circumstance. Courts have discretion to deviate from the guideline calculation when strict application would be unjust, but the burden of showing that falls on the parent seeking the deviation.
How to Modify an Existing Order
Parents whose employment situation changed after their last order was entered aren’t stuck with an outdated figure. Arizona allows child support modification when there has been a “substantial and continuing” change in circumstances. The guidelines generally treat a 15 percent (or $50 per month) difference between the old and recalculated amounts as the threshold for a simplified modification process. Modifications aren’t retroactive; they take effect the month after filing, so parents anticipating a change or contesting an imputed figure should file promptly.
Bottom Line for Arizona Families
The 2026 wage increase is small on paper, but because it’s built directly into the child support formula, it has real effects for any parent facing imputed income. To understand the impact of this imputed income adjustment, talk to a Webster Family Law attorney. Call for a consultation today.