Child Support – Page 3

10 Ohio Child Support Information Sources You Need To Know About

November 17, 2008

A Columbus Ohio Child Support Lawyer article about important child support resources that child support recipients and obligors need to know about.

This one is going to be short and sweet – because all the hard work is already done. Now you just have to read it, learn it & know it.

DISCLAIMER

10 Things You Need to Know About Cash Medical Support Orders and Changes to Ohio Child Support Law

October 4, 2008

A Columbus Ohio Child Support Lawyer article about cash medical support and changes to Ohio child support.

Cash medical support is becoming part of child support in Ohio.
The Custodial Parent will not have to pay cash medical support orders in Ohio.
Ohio obligors (the person who owes support) who have private health insurance available to them at a reasonable cost will be required to enroll their child in health insurance.
In Ohio, a “reasonable cost” for health insurance means that the cost of health insurance does not exceed 5% of the obligor’s income.
If health insurance is available at a reasonable cost and is discontinued, child support will go up to include the additional cash medical support amount WITHOUT notice or opportunity for hearing to the obligor.
Obligors will still have the opportunity to request a mistake of fact hearing, but the scope of those hearings is very limited.
The additional cash medical support component to Ohio child support is called a “cash medical support order”.
If a child is on Medicaid (including Molina, Care Source, etc.), the cost of the Medicaid will be off set by the cash medical support amount collected (meaning the government will have first “dibs” on the medical support).
If you think the new Ohio cash medical support orders are designed to reimburse the government for the cost of Medicaid, you are right.
Obligors whose income is below the national poverty level for that fiscal year will not have to pay cash medical support.

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How do I sign up or apply for child support in Ohio?

July 17, 2008

A Columbus Ohio Child Support Attorney article about Ohio child support, and how to get started.

First and foremost, you need to check out the website for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, or ODJFS. Start by clicking here. Child support is governed by State Law, not County or City Law, so you want to know what the State of Ohio says about how child support should be handled. If what the county Child Support Enforcement Agency, or CSEA, office tells you is different from the State Law, then you should ask to speak to a supervisor to discuss your concerns.

CALL NOW at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

After you’ve read through the frequently asked questions section of ODJFS, if you think you want to sign up for child support services, you can download the form to get started from this page. This form is for people who are NOT already on public assistance. This form will be available in your local child support office, but you might need access to some information you have at home to fill it out, so it’s a good idea to fill the form out before you go to your local CSEA.

CALL NOW at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

If you have applied for public assistance, it is fairly certain that the County was all over the child support issue from the get-go and signed you up when you applied for public assistance. If you have any doubt as to whether the County signed you up for child support, ask the local county CSEA in the County where you applied for public assistance. You can get a list of child support offices and children services offices in every county in Ohio by clicking here. Call your local county CSEA to find out when is the best time to come down to their office and submit your application for child support services.

CALL NOW at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

DISCLAIMER

Can I just sign away my rights to my child?

July 17, 2008

A Columbus Family Law Attorney article about signing away your rights to your child.

In Ohio, usually when people ask this question, what they mean is – if I agree not to be a part of my child’s life will I have to pay child support? In Ohio, visitation, or parenting time, is a privilege, not a right. Support, on the other hand, is an obligation. Both visitation and child support are modifiable until the child reaches majority, or until the parent’s rights are terminated by either an adoption or a children’s services type of proceeding terminating parental rights. Another way of putting it is this – if a person wants to walk away from their child, a court may agree that it is in the child’s best interest not to have contact with that parent, but that does not relieve the parent from the obligation to support their child. Nothing but a termination of parental rights via adoption or children’s services case will eliminate the possibility that a zero child support order may be modified in the future.

CALL NOW at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

Until recently, Ohio courts generally held that child support was not modifiable retroactively. In some situations where a parent has failed to pay child support for years and had an enormous child support arrearage, the parent with the child support arrearage sometimes would offer to “sign away their rights” if the custodial parent would agree to “get rid of” the child support arrearage. Sometimes this offer was attractive to the custodial parent, but Ohio courts maintained that the Ohio Revised Code does not allow retroactive modification of child support. On December 11, 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court, in the case Byrd v. Knuckles, decided that a court MAY, but is NOT REQUIRED TO, accept an agreement of the parents to terminate a child support arrearage. To learn more about the Byrd v. Knuckles case and retroactive modification of child support, click here.

CALL NOW at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

DISCLAIMER

How much child support will I owe?

July 17, 2008

A Columbus Child Support Lawyer article about how much your Ohio child support will be.

This is a common question, and for good reason. Ohio child support guidelines are a mystery to most people. Lawyers use software programs to calculate child support. There are some free resources on the Internet that claim to calculate child support for every state. They may or may not be accurate, but it is worth a try. Many of them simply point you to the pen and pencil formula that is set out in the Ohio Revised Code – hit the “more” button to view a copy of the work sheet used to calculate Ohio child support for shared parenting or sole residential parent cases. If you still find yourself scratching your head, you can look at the basic child support schedule set out in the Ohio Revised Code by pressing the “more” button again at the bottom of the worksheet. If you still are not able to figure out what your child support will be, you are probably starting to understand why lawyers use software to do it.