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Love and marriage may not last, but the children you create together are your shared responsibility until they become adults. When marriages with children end, child support and child custody are important factors in this legal matter. Child support ensures that each parent contributes money to provide for the care of their shared children. In Ohio, a parent can’t refuse paying child support if their ex won’t let them see the kids, and in the same vein, one parent can’t stop the other from seeing their child as retaliation for missed payments.
It is vital that you understand what is expected of your role in child support. Read on to learn more about how it is calculated, along with custody in Ohio.
Understanding Ohio Child Support
In most cases, one parent will pay child support to the other parent every month until that child either graduates from high school or reaches the age of 19. It is typically the parent who does not have the children residing with them that needs to pay child support.
In cases that involve equal parenting time, the parent who makes less money can petition the other for support, no matter which of them is the residential parent. To make things fair, Ohio applies a specific formula to calculate proper child support.
Calculating Child Support in Ohio
Determine the Combined Gross Annual Income
The first step in determining how much child support should be is to add up monthly taxable earnings from your job, any unemployment benefits, Social Security, and other applicable sources. Once you have this total, it needs to be combined with your ex’s gross monthly income. This should then be multiplied by 12.
Estimate the Basic Support Obligation
When you have your combined gross annual income, you can then look at the range it falls within under Ohio’s brackets for child support. You should note it correlates with the number of children you share, and the amount listed will be the combined basic support obligation for the parent paying child support.
Determine the Percentage of Combined Gross Annual Income
The obligation of parent support is proportionally related to their percentage of the combined annual income. This number is calculated by dividing gross annual income by the combined gross income.
Calculate Individual Support Obligation
The basic support obligation is then multiplied by the percentage of combined income and rounded to the nearest dollar. For most cases, the courts assume that the residential parent is meeting the basic support obligation, while the non-residential parent needs to pay their share of the obligation to the residential parent.
Factors That May Need to Be Added to the Child Support Equation
While the above calculations can help determine basic child support amounts, there may be other factors that could impact the outcome. For example, Ohio law states that non-residential parents can qualify for a 10% deduction in their child support obligation when they have 90 or more overnight visits a year with their children, which is equivalent to 25% of the parenting time.
If you meet those metrics, you would then multiply your individual monthly support obligation by 10% and deduct that number from support payment.
Another factor can arise when neither parent has health insurance. In this situation, the non-residential parent must pay cash for medical support to the residential parent. If the children have Medicaid, this payment is paid to the state. Parents who have private health insurance coverage do not need to worry about any of this.
Special Circumstances Considered in Calculating Child Support in Ohio
The state also considers child support in terms of the poverty line. If the calculated amount would leave you, as the non-residential parent, below the poverty line or unable to care for your children, the courts will adjust the amount.
If you have a divorce case, it will automatically include child support. However, if you have a legal separation or a case of paternity or custody only, you will need to apply for child support.
Can Child Support Be Modified?
Child support in Ohio may be modified, but it can only be changed every three years. At this point, the parents may fill out a request for administrative review of the support order. The terms can be changed even if it is less than three years, though proof must be presented that the circumstances have changed, justifying an update.
If one parent lost their job, became permanently disabled and experienced reduced earning capacity, was imprisoned, their income has changed at least 30%, the child is now ineligible for support due to age, or the child becomes disabled and needs lifetime monetary support, then they can all elicit changes to the original child support order. In the absence of one of these changes, then parents must wait three years before making adjustments.
Get Help with Child Support Calculations
You might be the kind of person who is good at math. Still, you should never estimate or guess when it comes to your parenting time percentage. This could have serious financial repercussions. Child support is legally binding, and parents who are required to pay it must obey the law.
Falling behind on child support payments would allow the Child Support Enforcement Agency to take over any income tax refunds owed to you. You can’t simply refuse to pay, as the court will hold you in contempt with the possibility of making you serve jail time.
If the payments seem too much, or you’re not even sure how to accurately calculate them, you should seek child custody assistance in Cincinnati. By doing the right thing, you’ll avoid legal issues and get the help you need in providing the proper level of care for your children.
By contrast, you don’t want to get your math wrong. If you overestimate, you could be overpaying, and that would be costly. From the start, make sure your calculations for parenting time are exact and follow the rules to the letter to ensure a smoother process.
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