CHILD SUPPORT

Ohio law provides strict statutory guidelines for determining the monetary amount of the child support order.  These guidelines take into consideration the number of children, the gross income of the parents and various other factors to arrive at a specific monetary value.

After arriving at a specific number you will need to consult with your attorney to determine if you can take advantage of certain statutory deviating factors.  Depending on your circumstances these deviating factors may permit a reduction or increase in the child support order.

Even if  Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS)has instituted a child support order that order can be challenged by the custodial parent when:

• An application for child support services has been denied, acted upon erroneously, or not acted upon with reasonable promptness.
• A recipient of child support services believes the case has been acted upon erroneously, or not acted upon with reasonable promptness.
• The recipient believes that the child support enforcement agency (CSEA) has failed to use appropriate establishment or enforcement techniques.
• The obligee believes that child support collections have not been distributed or disbursed correctly or questions the accuracy of the arrears owed to ODJFS at termination of Ohio Works First benefits.
• The obligee believes that child support payments, including payments owed to the custodial parent due to agency error, are not being issued with reasonable promptness.
• The obligee believes that the CSEA has failed to take action against an obligor’s employer for failure to promptly forward payments withheld from the obligor’s wages.
• The obligee disagrees with the results of an investigation concerning termination of a support order.
• The custodial parent disagrees with the CSEA’s decision to close the child support case.

Even if  Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS)has instituted a child support order that order can be challenged by the non-custodial parent when:

• Services for establishing paternity have been denied.
• The child support enforcement agency has refused to review the support order for modification.
• The obligor disagrees with the results of an investigation concerning termination of a support order.

Call Hoyt Law Offices for a no charge estimate of child support obligations.

VISITATION

Except in extreme cases involving domestic violence or child abuse, judges almost always grant visitation to the noncustodial parent. Unless you have concerns for the health or safety of the child during visitation, we urge you to consider allowing reasonable visitation if the father asks for it. The reason for this is that the Court will consider which parent is more likely to allow the other parent visitation with the child in the future if it decides custody. One way to prove that you would allow visitation with the father in the future is to allow visitation now, even if a court has not ordered visitation and you are not yet required to allow it. This does not mean you have to go looking for the father. It means that if he is interested in visiting with the child, you should consider setting up a meaningful visitation schedule, which is reasonable and can document any concerns you may have about your child’s health and safety if visitation is allowed. That way the father will not be able to prove that you would deny him visitation in the future. If paternity has not been established, many mothers feel that they have the right to deny visitation. That is true; however, under the new law, the courts may decide that the lack of paternity is not a good enough reason to deny visitation, especially if no one really disagrees about whom the father is. If visitation is unreasonably refused, it may be held against you. Of course you must take in consideration the age of the child and the ability of the Father and his physical living conditions prior to allowing overnight or extended visitation.

Spousal support:

Sometimes referred to as alimony, when one spouse has earned significantly more income than the other spouse or has historically provided for the other spouse, the court may find it is appropriate for that spouse to continue paying for certain expenses and costs until the lower-earning spouse has reached a point where he or she can provide for his or her own needs.

In Ohio, the court of common pleas may award reasonable spousal support to either party. During the pendency of any divorce, or legal separation proceeding, the court may award reasonable temporary spousal support to either party.

An award of spousal support may be allowed in real or personal property, or both, or by decreeing a sum of money, payable either in gross or by installments, from future income or otherwise, as the court considers equitable.

In determining whether spousal support is appropriate and reasonable, and in determining the nature, amount, and terms of payment, and duration of spousal support, which is payable either in gross or in installments, the court shall consider all of the following factors:

(a) The income of the parties, from all sources, including, but not limited to, income derived from property divided, disbursed, or distributed;

(b) The relative earning abilities of the parties;

(c) The ages and the physical, mental, and emotional conditions of the parties;

(d) The retirement benefits of the parties;

(e) The duration of the marriage;

(f) The extent to which it would be inappropriate for a party, because that party will be custodian of a minor child of the marriage, to seek employment outside the home;

(g) The standard of living of the parties established during the marriage;

(h) The relative extent of education of the parties;

(i) The relative assets and liabilities of the parties, including but not limited to any court-ordered payments by the parties;

(j) The contribution of each party to the education, training, or earning ability of the other party, including, but not limited to, any party’s contribution to the acquisition of a professional degree of the other party;

(k) The time and expense necessary for the spouse who is seeking spousal support to acquire education, training, or job experience so that the spouse will be qualified to obtain appropriate employment, provided the education, training, or job experience, and employment is, in fact, sought;

(l) The tax consequences, for each party, of an award of spousal support;

(m) The lost income production capacity of either party that resulted from that party’s marital responsibilities;

(n) Any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant and equitable.

In determining whether spousal support is reasonable and in determining the amount and terms of payment of spousal support, each party shall be considered to have contributed equally to the production of marital income.

For a no charge estimate of Spousal Support that may be awarded call Hoyt Law Offices.