Child support calculation and modification is controlled by Ohio Revised Code Section 3119. Courts are required to consider income, work-related childcare, health insurance costs, children from other relationships, and number of overnights spent with each parent in determining the “guideline” child support amount.
Figuring out your “guideline” is straight-forward. The amount can be quickly determined by having a Child Support Lawyer run a “Child Support Worksheet” for you. If you would like a free Child Support Worksheet, contact WSM.
Difficulties can occur in calculating guideline support, when one or both parents have complex incomes or if one or both parents are intentionally unemployed or intentionally underemployed. Self-employment, executive compensation, employment benefits, employer matching, passive growth on separate property, or combined incomes over the magic number of $336,467 can all complicate an otherwise straight forward process. If you or your spouse have these income issues, you should immediately seek out the services of a Child Support Lawyer.
Once the guideline amount is established, courts are permitted to deviate, either up or down, from the guideline, at their discretion, based on numerous factors which are listed at R.C. Section 3119.23. Those factors include special or unusual needs of a child, extraordinary costs associated with travel necessary to exercise visitation with the children, large disparities in income, significant direct expenses paid by a parent, and differences in standard of living.
Child Support is ALWAYS modifiable.
The child support statute, R.C. Section 3119, was modified by H.B. 366. The changes went into effect on March 28, 2019. If your current child support order is dated before March 28, 2019, it could potentially be exposed, for good or for bad, to substantial modification. Contact a Child Support Lawyer to figure out where you stand.
