Securing Your Child’s Future With a Columbus Child Support Attorney
Navigating child support can be one of the most challenging aspects of a divorce or separation, often bringing financial uncertainty and emotional stress for parents. The Columbus-based law firm of Robert L. Caplan Attorney at Law understands that your primary concern is your child’s well-being and future. As a skilled child support lawyer, Robert Caplan is dedicated to helping you achieve a fair and stable child support arrangement, ensuring your child receives the financial security they deserve. He can guide you through the complexities, protecting your rights and your child’s best interests every step of the way.
Calculating Child Support In Ohio
In any case in Ohio that involves a minor child, the court is required to address the issue of child support. The person who pays child support is the Obligor and the person who receives child support is the Obligee.
Child Support Guideline Worksheet
The amount of child support ordered is not an arbitrary number. It is not based on the needs of the Obligor or the ability to pay of the Obligee. Instead, child support is calculated by using the Ohio Child Support Guideline Worksheet. This worksheet takes into account a number of factors to determine the proper amount of child support. These factors include:
- Income (including overtime and bonuses) of each parent
- The time spent with each parent
- Number of minor children
- Other children living with the parent who are not a child of the parties
- Child care costs
- Health care costs
The Court will almost always use the guideline worksheet to determine the amount of child support. If one parent wants to deviate, or pay less than, the guideline amount, both parents must agree. The Court may make an exception if the obligor spends a great deal of time with the minor children. (More than just every other weekend).
Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency
In Columbus, child support is collected, accounted for, and dispersed by the Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency (FCCSEA). Child support must be paid by the obligor to the FCCSEA through a wage withholding order. That means the support is deducted from the pay check of the obligor and sent directly to the agency. The agency will then account for it and send it to the Obligee. The Obligee will have the support payment either directly deposited into a bank account or will receive a debit MasterCard.
If the Obligor does not pay the required child support, the agency been vested with a number of powers to help them collect past due support. They can offset an income tax refund, suspend a driver’s license, suspend a professional license, file a contempt of court, or increase the support payment by up to 20% to make up the arrearages. Ultimately, nonpayment of child support could be a felony offence.
Payment Of Child Support
The Obligor is required under Ohio law to pay support until the minor child is 18 years old or so long as the child continuously attends an accredited high school. The duty to pay child support will only terminate if:
- The child is emancipated
- The child dies
- The child marries
- The child enlists or is deported
Ohio Child Support FAQs
Below, attorney Robert L. Caplan has put together common questions about child support and how these issues are handled:
Under what circumstances can child support be modified?
Child support orders can be adjusted when significant changes occur in either parent’s circumstances. A substantial change in income, loss of employment or a shift in parenting time arrangements may warrant a modification.
The court requires documentation showing that the change is both significant and ongoing, not temporary. Medical conditions affecting a parent’s ability to work or changes in the child’s needs can also justify revisiting the support amount.
Ohio’s Child Support Enforcement Agency can also start a review every 36 months. However, a modification is not automatic. The state looks closely at documents and financial proof before allowing any change.
How are medical and educational expenses factored into child support?
Beyond the basic support obligation, parents share responsibility for additional costs related to their child’s health care and education. Medical expenses typically include:
- Health insurance premiums
- Uninsured medical bills
- Dental care
- Vision care
- Prescription costs
These expenses are usually divided between parents in proportion to their incomes as calculated on the guideline worksheet. Educational expenses can encompass school supplies, activity fees, tutoring and, in some cases, private school tuition if both parents agree or the court orders it.
The child support order should specify how these costs are allocated and the timeline for reimbursement when one parent pays upfront. Proper documentation and communication between parents can help avoid disputes over these shared expenses.
What happens if the other parent refuses to let me see my child because I am behind on support payments?
Support and parenting time are separate matters under Ohio law. A parent cannot refuse to allow visits because the other parent is behind on support. If payments fall behind, the Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency has tools to collect what is owed. This may include wage withholding or other enforcement steps.
Blocking parenting time, however, is not allowed and may create new legal problems for the parent who withholds the child.
What happens to child support if the custodial parent remarries?
Remarriage of the parent receiving support does not lower the obligation. The new spouse has zero duty to feed, clothe or care for the child. Only the original parents’ incomes count in the guideline formula. Stepparent money rarely affects the monthly amount.
Contact Robert Caplan, An Experienced Columbus Child Support Lawyer
Attorney Robert L. Caplan can help you to evaluate your unique circumstances, and work within Ohio guidelines to determine the best strategy for you. Contact him today, or call (614) 252-2026 to schedule a free consultation, and begin to work together to bring an end to the pressure, and hope for your future.