Child support payments can be crucial to provide financial stability for a child — especially when they have extraordinary needs. Under Ohio law, child support must be paid until a child reaches the age of majority or otherwise becomes emancipated under the law. However, the need for financial support can go beyond a child’s 18th birthday if they are disabled and cannot provide support for themselves when they become adults. Legislation was recently passed by a unanimous vote in the Ohio Senate addressing this very issue.
Specifically, the new law amended the Ohio Revised Code as of March 20, 2025 to allow first time orders of child support for disabled children over 18 with a physical or mental disability to be entered. The legislation helps to ensure parents share the financial responsibility of providing for a disabled child’s wellbeing when they become an adult, regardless of when the parents obtained their divorce.
What is Child Support?
Child support is monetary payment made by one parent to the other to help cover the basic needs of the child when parents are divorced or separated. Generally, it is paid by one parent to the other parent – whether or not they were ever married. The amount of the obligation is determined by a formula based on each parent’s income, health insurance costs, childcare costs, and the number of children. Determining child support also takes into consideration childcare costs, healthcare costs, spousal support, and parenting time.
What Does the New Child Support Law Say?
Ohio courts have long followed the precedent set forth in Castle v. Castle [Castle v. Castle, 15 Ohio St.3d 279, 473 N.E.2d 803 (1984)]. This case provided for the continuation of child support for disabled children who have reached the age of majority when parents are divorced. The Ohio legislature made it possible for courts and CSEAs to extend an existing child support order when a disabled child attained age 18 in 2001. However, the Ohio Supreme Court and the legislature did not address the issuance of new child support orders when parents of a disabled child divorce or institute child support proceedings until after the child turned 18 years old. As a result, people were left to rely on payment and receipt of spousal support, which had a tax penalty associated with it until 1/1/2019, and courts were left to interpret the case law — leading to inconsistencies in rulings on the matter in counties across the state.
The new law, effective March 20, 2025, concerning child support for disabled children over 18 seeks to clarify any confusion caused by the ruling in Castle. It codifies Ohio’s definition of child support to include adults who have a disability that began before they reached age 18, regardless of the timing of their parents’ divorce: “a court may issue, pursuant to a proceeding for divorce, dissolution, legal separation, or annulment, an order of support for the care and maintenance of the parties’ child who is a person with a disability, regardless of whether the child has reached the age of majority.” The new legislation specifically defines a person with a disability as a “person with a mental or physical disability” that began before the age of 18, which makes them incapable of supporting themselves.
Notably, the legislation does not require a court to order child support in these situations — rather, it allows the court to issue an order if a judge finds that it is reasonable and necessary. It also provides for the modification of existing child support orders in cases involving a disability where the child is older than 18.
How is Child Support for Disabled Children Determined?
The new legislation in Ohio did not change how child support obligations are calculated for children with disabilities. Support is still calculated based on the combined income of both parents according to the formula determined by the Ohio Legislature. However, standard child support may not be sufficient to cover all the needs of a child with a disability.
Depending upon the child’s specific needs, there may be additional costs or extraordinary expenses for things such as:
- Medical care
- Medical equipment
- Special education
- Personal caregivers
- Therapy
- Tutoring
- Medication
- Surgeries
In cases involving child support for disabled children, a judge can deviate from the formula and increase the amount of support paid by one parent to the other to ensure the child’s needs are met.
Parents do not need to leave the decision of child support up to a judge to determine. Parents of a special needs child are free to reach a child support agreement between themselves that will ensure their child’s needs and best interests are met — beyond the age of 18. Mediation and the collaborative divorce process can help parents communicate effectively and achieve a solution that works for the whole family regarding these financial arrangements without judicial intervention. Importantly, any out-of-court settlement that has been reached must be signed, filed, and approved by a judge in order to be legally enforceable.
Continuity of Care, and What Castle Does Not Discuss
Many disabilities are not neatly diagnosed in childhood. Conditions like autism, ADHD, mood disorders, or connective tissue diseases may emerge gradually or remain unrecognized until adulthood. Under Castle, the key legal question is whether the disability began before the age of 18, but this case provides no guidance on how that beginning must be proven. Families navigating late diagnoses may face the additional burden of reconstructing a poorly documented past in order to meet a standard of proof that ultimately rests on a magistrate’s discretion, rather than a bright-line rule.
What happens when radical shifts in the capacity to provide financially for a Castle child occur, such as age, infirmity, retirement, or prolonged illness of the obligor, that affect their ability to continue supporting the disabled adult child? The same is true of shifting needs on the part of the Castle adult-child, who, through advances in medical technology, or deterioration of their condition due to aging or the progression of the illness, create a consistently fluctuating financial burden on the obligor. Ohio law, in this instance, was crafted to eventually terminate child support, relying on a system of checks and balances between two opposed-yet-aligned parents. The introduction of a Castle child, with their own rights, but permanently subservient to the rights of their parents, is a question of due process that Ohio has not yet tested. (Whether a legally competent but disabled adult has standing to seek support remains unsettled under Ohio law.) Sometimes, when the adult disabled child receives benefits such as SSI which have limits on countable resources, a child support order may undercut the ability to receive benefits.
These complexities underscore why the recent changes to Ohio law matter so deeply. While HB338 provides a path forward, the Castle case was decided by the Supreme Court of Ohio over forty years ago. This statute opens the door to allow support to extend into adulthood by statute where it’s needed most, but the lived realities of diagnosis, dependency, capacity, and care continue to evolve beyond what Castle ever contemplated. The law, like the lives it seeks to support, must remain responsive. As families begin to test the boundaries of HB338, they will shape how Ohio defines dignity, responsibility, and family support for years to come.
Contact an Experienced Ohio Child Support Attorney
Child support for disabled children can be a complex matter — and it’s important to have a skillful attorney to ensure the best interests of your child are met. Whether you are the parent who is paying or receiving child support, Melissa Graham-Hurd and Associates can help you achieve a positive outcome in your case. From our office in Green, we work with clients in Summit and Stark Counties, Ohio. Schedule a consultation today to learn more.
