What You Should Know About Child Support

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHILD SUPPORT

Child support is the financial contribution one parent makes to another for the support of their children. Child support may be ordered in divorces, dissolutions, legal separations and actions to establish paternity. It is ordered by the court or established by agreement of the parties in an amount that should allow the child to enjoy the standard of living that the child would have enjoyed had the parents remained married.

WHO PAYS CHILD SUPPORT?

In general, the "non-residential" parent pays child support to the "residential" parent (the "residential parent" is the one with whom the child lives most of the time). In shared parenting plans, the guideline amount of support may be reduced according to the amount of time the child spends in each parent's home or other factors in the child's best interest.

HOW IS CHILD SUPPORT CALCULATED?

Child support is calculated according to a formula written into state law. That formula combines the father's and mother's gross income. Each parent is allowed certain deductions from gross income, including local income tax actually paid, any child or spousal support paid for other children or a spouse, and the value of a federal dependency exemption for each dependent of his or her household (not including the dependent(s) for whom child support has been ordered), less child support received for the child.

The total of both parents' adjusted gross incomes (called the "combined income") is applied to a chart, which identifies the amount of support required to raise children in the parents' income category (called the "combined child support obligation"). The paying parent (called the "obligor") will pay his or her pro-rated share of that charted amount. For example, if Mom earns $10,000 (gross salary) per year, and Dad earns $30,000 (gross), the combined income is $40,000. For one child, the charted amount is approximately $6,500 of child support per year. If Dad is the parent paying support, he must pay $4,875 per year, or 75% of the charted amount, because he earns 75% of the total combined parental income.

WHAT ABOUT DAY CARE EXPENSES OR HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS?

Factored into the charted amount of child support is the cost of work-related or education-related day care expense and major medical insurance coverage for the child. Thus, if the charted amount is $4,000 child support per year, but Mom also pays $1,500 per year in day care to go to work, and Dad also pays $500 per year for healthcare insurance to cover the child (more than he would pay to cover his own healthcare insurance alone), the total child support cost is $6,000 per year. It is this total cost to cover the child's basic needs plus childcare plus healthcare insurance cost that is divided between the parents on each parent's relative share of earnings. Mom would get a credit for paying Dad's share of the childcare cost, and Dad would get a credit for paying Mom's percentage share of the healthcare insurance cost.

The court will typically order one or both parents to carry healthcare insurance, if available at reasonable cost. If no affordable coverage is available, then parents will be ordered to share in some way the costs of health care. Uncovered medical costs are usually ordered to be paid in pro-rated shares of the parents' income, after the residential parent pays the first $100 per year. The pro-rated shares are usually determined by the percentages each has to combined income after the exchange of child support.

IF I PAY CHILD SUPPORT, DO I AUTOMATICALLY GET TO CLAIM THE CHILD ON MY TAX RETURN?

Even though federal tax law generally provides the dependency exemption to the residential parent, state courts have the power to allocate the exemption to the non-residential parent if it will result in a net tax saving that will benefit the child. There is usually a provision that all child support must be paid current by the end of the year to obtain the child as a dependent and the child tax credit that goes along with it.

HOW LONG DOES CHILD SUPPORT LAST?

Child support is payable until the child reaches the age of 18, or until he or she graduates from high school, whichever is later. If, however, a child is no longer attending an accredited high school (or state-approved equivalent) and is not living with or dependent upon a parent (i.e., is married or otherwise "emancipated"), then child support may end before age 18. If a child is over 18 years of age and still attends an accredited high school (or state-approved equivalent), support will continue until the child has completed high school, up to age 19, unless otherwise ordered or agreed.

Special rules apply to special needs, handicapped and developmentally disabled children who will not be expected to be self-sufficient by the age of 18.  If a child is a special needs person, child support can be ordered to be paid well beyond the child's 18th birthday and the duration of the support order will depend upon the child's capacity for independence.

The court's jurisdiction to order child support ends at age 18, with the exception of special needs children and those still in high school after age 18. This is true even when a child over 18 is entirely dependent upon his parents while attending college. If, however, parents agree in their divorce decree to support a child beyond the age of 18 (to pay for college, for example), then the court can enforce that agreement.

For children born out of wedlock, support generally is due back to the date of the child's birth to the date of "emancipation", but only after fatherhood of the child is legally determined.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE COURT ORDERS SUPPORT AND IT ISN'T PAID?

All support orders must be paid. Payment can be made in one of three ways. Most common is the "wage assignment order," when the wages of the person owing support is "garnished," meaning that the amount of child support is taken directly from a paycheck; or abank account withholding order when the support is directly taken from a bank account. Self-employed persons who have a child support obligation are required to have a bank account withholding order and are sometimes required to post cash bonds that may be used if the payor misses a payment. (The payee is paid from the bond, and the payor is then called in to reimburse the bond fund.) A "reporting" order is used for unemployed parents. If a parent is not working at the time the child support order is issued by the court, then that parent must report regularly to state what he or she is doing to find work, and to report any income received or job obtained.

Any person involved in a support order has a support officer at the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA). Without cost, the CSEA officer will attempt to enforce a support order by filing contempt motions on behalf of the payee and by garnishing wages or bank accounts of the person who owes support.

The CSEA can take certain income sources to meet past due support. For example, any tax refund, company bonus or similar lump sum of money received by a delinquent obligor can be taken to pay overdue child support.

There are enforcement provisions in the law which prohibit renewal of certain licenses and suspension of license for those who are delinquent in paying their child support obligations. For instance, recreational, professional and drivers' licenses can be suspended or cannot be renewed if a license-holder owes delinquent child support.

WHAT IF THE COURT ORDERS SUPPORT AND IT IS NOT YET TAKEN FROM MY PAY?

If you are ordered to pay child support, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES pay support directly to the other parent of the child, ALWAYS pay through CSEA.

WHY DOES THE COURT ORDER HAVE ALL THAT LANGUAGE ABOUT NOTICES, AND DO I REALLY HAVE TO DO THAT?

The Court will order that you notify CSEA of any changes in your residence address, mailing address, employment, wages, income, telephone number and the like. If the CSEA sends out a Notice, sometimes you have only a short period, 10 days, to respond. If you have not kept the agency updated with your information, your window of opportunity to challenge the action contained in the Notice may have lapsed and there is little you can do about it then. Please comply with all of the notification requirements of the child support order such as a change of your address, or a change of your employment status, as your failure to do so may result in contempt charges being filed;

CAN PARENTING TIME/COMPANIONSHIP/VISITATION BE DENIED IF A PARENT DOESN'T PAY SUPPORT?

No! A parent who deliberately denies court-ordered parenting time (visitation) rights may be considered in contempt of court, which is punishable by a jail sentence, a fine, imposition of attorney fees and court costs. Also, if the parent who is denied visitation seeks a reallocation of parental rights (change of custody), the residential parent's deliberate withholding of parenting time rights may be an important factor to the court in deciding who the child will live with primarily. Depriving a parent of parenting rights is not a way to get legal help in collecting child support.

CAN SUPPORT BE STOPPED IF A PARENT DENIES PARENTING TIME (VISTATION)?

No! In the same way that a residential parent may not deliberately disobey court-ordered parenting time rights in order to attempt to collect child support from a non-paying parent, the non-residential parent also may not willfully disobey a child support order. A person who withholds support payments may be considered contempt of court, which is punishable by a jail sentence, fines, imposition of attorney fees and court costs. Also, if the parent who withholds child support seeks custody, the deliberate non-payment of support may become an important factor in deciding that issue. The law provides remedies for denial or interference with parenting time (visitation). Depriving a child of financial support is not one of them.

THIS INFORMATION IS INTENDED TO BE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS OF A DIVORCE IN SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO AND IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS ONLY INTENDED TO ASSIST YOU IN UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS.

IF YOU SHOULD HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THE OFFICE AND REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT.

Call today to schedule an appointment with Melissa Graham-Hurd.
Ohio Child Support Attorney

Melissa Graham-Hurd
333 South Main St.
Suite 301
Akron, Ohio 44308
330-996-4099

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The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

Melissa Graham-Hurd provides legal services for clients in Akron, Barberton, Bath, Canal Fulton, Canton, Copley, Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, Green, Hudson, Jackson Twp., Lakemore, Macedonia, Massillon, North Canton, Norton, Peninsula, Springfield Twp., Stow, Twinsburg, Wadsworth, Wooster, Stark County, Summit County, Wayne County, and Medina County