About Ohio Child Support with a Link to the Ohio Child Support Calculator Tool

Ohio Child Support Calculator

The Ohio Child Support Calculator helps parents quickly estimate payments based on their income and family situation.

How the Ohio Child Support Calculator Works

Child support payments play a crucial role in supporting families and ensuring the well-being of children. This financial support helps cover essential expenses for children, such as housing, food, clothing, healthcare, and education. Further, determining and paying child support can provide an opportunity for parents to develop co-parenting skills and demonstrate empathetic communication during and after divorce. The financial and emotional impact of child support ensures that children maintain a good quality of life and have a sense of stability throughout the divorce and after.

Determining child support can seem daunting to parents going through a divorce. There are a multitude of factors that influence how much support is to be paid, such as how many children the parties have, the parties’ incomes, whether each parent has other children, the amount of spousal support paid, how health care and other extraneous child care costs are divided, and more.… View Full Article → “About Ohio Child Support with a Link to the Ohio Child Support Calculator Tool”

Blast From The Past: Child Visitation Exchanges – Tips to Avoid Problems!

visitation exchanges custody

PUBLISHER’S UPDATE: Here is one of my favorites posts about child visitation exchanges, from back on June 13th, 2020! The advice rings as true now as it did then. …We have a ton of interesting articles in our archives of the Ohio Family Law Blog. Use our Search tool and enjoy a few oldie but goodies!

Visitation Exchanges. Do this to Avoid Friction with your Ex!

Visitation exchanges and custody exchanges can be uncomfortable and sometimes downright combative depending upon the relationship between the parents. They can also be stressful to your child as well. The overall objective needs to be to keep things civil and reduce friction all the way around.

Here are some common-sense tips of what to do, or not do in visitation exchanges:
  1. Coordinate Drop Off/Pick Up Location: In high conflict cases, the less you have to interact with your Ex the better. One common approach is agreeing upon making the switch at school, a daycare center, babysitters or friend’s house.
… View Full Article → “Blast From The Past: Child Visitation Exchanges – Tips to Avoid Problems!”

Blast From The Past: An Overview of Child Custody Proceedings in Ohio

custody domestic relations

PUBLISHER’S NOTE –  I emailed this blog from August of 2021 to a possible new client this week. Custody cases are typically complex and very fact sensitive. But here are the basics. The information in it is still correct, but the new term for “visitation” is “parenting time”. Try the search bar above to focus in on a huge variety of articles we have published since 2007!

Understanding the Intricacies of Ohio’s Child Custody Laws

Ohio law is gender neutral in custody determinations – meaning there is no preference towards the mother or father being granted custody. In divorce court, “shared parenting” between the mother and father is generally the preferred parenting arrangement instead of sole custody to one parent. If a parent is awarded sole custody, they have the decision-making rights over where a child will attend school and major legal or medical decisions on their behalf. However, that is not always the case and the “best interest” test is employed to determine the best interest of the child.… View Full Article → “Blast From The Past: An Overview of Child Custody Proceedings in Ohio”

An Overview of Child Custody Proceedings in Ohio

custody domestic relations

Understanding the Intricacies of Ohio’s Custody Laws

Ohio law is gender neutral in custody determinations – meaning there is no preference towards the mother or father being granted custody. In divorce court, “shared parenting” between the mother and father is generally the preferred parenting arrangement instead of sole custody to one parent. If a parent is awarded sole custody, they have the decision-making rights over where a child will attend school and major legal or medical decisions on their behalf. However, that is not always the case and the “best interest” test is employed to determine the best interest of the child.

A court takes into consideration numerous factors such as: the mental and physical health of both parents, any history of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, and parents’ commitment to facilitate and honor parenting time to name a few. In some cases, a judge will appoint guardian ad litem to assess the child’s best interests in order to act as the child’s voice in a custody case.… View Full Article → “An Overview of Child Custody Proceedings in Ohio”

Do Criminal Convictions Impact Custody Determinations?

criminal convictions custody child's best interest

Child’s Best Interest Considered When Custody Is Granted In Ohio, But What If The Parent Has Criminal Convictions On File?

Yes. Criminal convictions may impact the Judge’s decision regarding who is granted custody. In Ohio, as in most states, the guiding principle is “what is in the child’s best interest“. By necessity, this must be a very comprehensive consideration of many factors. In Ohio, Section 3109.04 (F)(1) lists 10 specific factors the Court is to consider when making a custody determination.

They are:

(F) (1) In determining the best interest of a child pursuant to this section, whether on an original decree allocating parental rights and responsibilities for the care of children or a modification of a decree allocating those rights and responsibilities, the court shall consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to:

  1. The wishes of the child’s parents regarding the child’s care;
  2. If the court has interviewed the child in chambers pursuant to division (B) of this section regarding the child’s wishes and concerns as to the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities concerning the child, the wishes and concerns of the child, as expressed to the court;
  3. The child’s interaction and interrelationship with the child’s parents, siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the child’s best interest;
  4. The child’s adjustment to the child’s home, school, and community;
  5. The mental and physical health of all persons involved in the situation;
  6. The parent more likely to honor and facilitate court-approved parenting time rights or visitation and companionship rights;
  7. Whether either parent has failed to make all child support payments, including all arrearages that are required of that parent pursuant to a child support order under which that parent is an obligor;
  8. Whether either parent or any member of the household of either parent previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any criminal offense involving any act that resulted in a child being an abused child or a neglected child; whether either parent, in a case in which a child has been adjudicated an abused child or a neglected child, previously has been determined to be the perpetrator of the abusive or neglectful act that is the basis of an adjudication; whether either parent or any member of the household of either parent previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of section  2919.25 of the Revised Code (Domestic Violence)  or a sexually oriented offense involving a victim who at the time of the commission of the offense was a member of the family or household that is the subject of the current proceeding; whether either parent or any member of the household of either parent previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense involving a victim who at the time of the commission of the offense was a member of the family or household that is the subject of the current proceeding and caused physical harm to the victim in the commission of the offense; and whether there is reason to believe that either parent has acted in a manner resulting in a child being an abused child or a neglected child;
  9. Whether the residential parent or one of the parents subject to a shared parenting decree has continuously and willfully denied the other parent’s right to parenting time in accordance with an order of the court;
  10. Whether either parent has established a residence, or is planning to establish a residence, outside this state.
… View Full Article → “Do Criminal Convictions Impact Custody Determinations?”

Child Visitation Exchanges – Tips to Avoid Problems!

visitation exchanges custody

Visitation Exchanges. Do this to Avoid Friction with your Ex!

Visitation exchanges and custody exchanges can be uncomfortable and sometimes downright combative depending upon the relationship between the parents. They can also be stressful to your child as well. The overall objective needs to be to keep things civil and reduce friction all the way around.

Here are some common-sense tips of what to do, or not do in visitation exchanges:
  1. Coordinate Drop Off/Pick Up Location: In high conflict cases, the less you have to interact with your Ex the better. One common approach is agreeing upon making the switch at school, a daycare center, babysitters or friend’s house.  Other options are at a public place such as a park or restaurant. In extreme situations, some folks will make the exchange outside the local police department. You need to figure a spot that is practical and reduces possible danger
  2. Bring a Third Party: Some folks will bring a witness to observe the drop off/pickups and to act as an observer and help reduce any friction.
… View Full Article → “Child Visitation Exchanges – Tips to Avoid Problems!”

Blast From The Past: Custody Wars: My Lawyer Suggested that I Fabricate a Child Abuse Allegation!

Blast from the past 13 years Ohio Family Law Blog

PUBLISHER’S UPDATE: Here is one of my favorites posts written by custody expert Judianne Cochran from back on September 18th, 2010! We have a ton of interesting articles in our archives of the Ohio Family Law Blog. Use our Search tool and enjoy a few oldie but goodies!

Using False Allegations In Family Law Custody Cases. Will I get A Better Position?

In recent years there has been a steady and alarming increase in the use of false allegations of vague, unsupported claims of domestic violence and even vaguer claims of child abuse, used solely in an attempt to find a shortcut to a presumed better position in custody cases.

What is more alarming is the observation that more often than not the attorneys of record for the litigants making these claims have been those unschooled in and relatively new to the family law arena, who have chosen to step outside their actual specialty and add a minor “division” of family law to their practices.… View Full Article → “Blast From The Past: Custody Wars: My Lawyer Suggested that I Fabricate a Child Abuse Allegation!”

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