Child Custody, Visitation and Support Lawyers in Lancaster, Ohio

The situations leading to divorce and dissolution of marriage create decisions that are difficult enough on their own. These choices become even harder when there are children involved. There are several different items that must be considered, including: child custody, visitation plans, child support calculations, and even grandparent custody or visitation.

No one can truly understand how you’re feeling in a tough situation that leads to needing a child support lawyer, but our experienced custody and visitation attorneys are prepared to help assist you in each step of the difficult process.
 

Incidents That Require a Lancaster Custody and Visitation Attorney

The National Center for Health Statistics states that there were approximately 672,502 divorces in 2023, which is a rate of 2.4 per 1,000 people.

Child custody and visitation are common phrases used to describe the legal assignment of responsibility and rights related to the care of a child.

As they apply to the rights of a parent in Ohio, the terms “child custody” and “visitation” are often combined into a single concept known as “parenting time.” When talking about non-parent rights to custody or visitation, the terminology most often used would be “companionship” or “visitation rights.” 

Parenting time is generally awarded to the non-residential parent, with orders from the court typically focusing on frequent and continuing contact for both parents. It is possible that the court could find ongoing contact with one or both of the parents is not in the best interest of the child. This situation will be assessed by the court and will use information from evidence and specialized professionals such as psychologists to make a determination.

Factors that are considered by the court, when determining and granting parenting time, include:

• Location of each parent’s home, and the distance between them
• The willingness of the parents to work together to reschedule missed parenting time
• Plans for either parent to live out of state
• The physical and mental health of all parties involved, including the children
• Availability of the parents based on work schedule, child’s school schedule, vacation, and holiday plans
• Time available to spend with siblings
• The age of the children involved
• Health and safety of the children
• The child’s ability to adjust to a new home, school, and community

This is a basic list of factors that may be considered when granting custody or determining parenting time. Our child support lawyers in Lancaster, Ohio take a comprehensive look at all factors if you select our dedicated visitation lawyers to represent your interests.

Financial Factors in Determining Child Support

Determining child support is a decidedly complex equation that requires weighing multiple factors against one another. This is additionally complex when you remember that child support must be paid until the child turns 18 and has graduated high school, in most cases. 

The answer is intended to remain rooted in the financial equation of each individual parent’s income divided by the percentage of the combined household income overall, and the number of children. This is then referenced against a pay schedule chart, as a function of the combined parental income, to determine how much is owed based on the current Ohio child support statute.

The percentage of the individual parent is applied to the payment chart amount to determine what part of the payment each parent is responsible for. There are many additional factors that may further modify the payment amount. Therefore, it is important to consult a child support lawyer to evaluate the fair and equitable distribution of child support payments.

If a parent or guardian refuses to pay child support, there are certain circumstances that may result in them going to jail or prison. Ohio law allows for criminal penalties to be raised if a parent fails to pay more than 26 out of 104 weeks’ worth of payments, or who owes more than $5,000 in child support payments that are past due (known as arrearages). That means more than 25% of child support payments were missed in two years. It should be further noted that extensive failure to make payments can be elevated to a felony offense.

Determining an Unfit Parent

The legal definition of an unfit parent is as follows: a parent’s conduct fails to provide proper guidance, care, or support.

Other acts by the parent, such as abuse, neglect, or creating an unsafe environment for children through substance abuse may also cause a parent to be ruled unfit.

While a parent, as an adult, can make choices about the environment they want to live in, and how they want to be treated, a child cannot, which is why most courts advocate for the children first and foremost. This is the most fundamental basis by which a court approaches issues of custody. If a parent can demonstrate the ability to properly guide, care for, and support their children, then the court will allow for custody in most cases.

That said, the court may also allow for custody while imposing some guidelines which are aimed at providing additional training and resources for the parent if they are close to the edge. These might include counseling or treatment programs, or periods of supervision while interacting with the children.

How a Grandparent Custody Lawyer Can Assist

Visitation rights for non-parents, which includes grandparent visitation, can be granted if the following conditions are met:

• A motion is filed with the court, identifying the individual seeking visitation
• It can be determined that the individual has an interest in the child’s welfare
• Granting visitation is in the best interests of the child

Both our grandparents’ rights lawyers and the Ohio courts recommend that all parties work together to create a companionship and visitation plan that can be agreed upon and adhered to. Not only is this less stressful for the children, but divorce can also cause exponential strain and anxiety on the parts of the parents, grandparents and invested parties as well. A willingness to cooperate can limit the amount of time, money, and emotional energy spent getting to the end goal of a new, stable life for the child after the parents are separated.

If cooperation is not forthcoming, you can be assured that the visitation lawyers at Dagger Law will fight for your rights in the courtroom.

Understanding Child Support with a Custody and Visitation Lawyer

Child support in the state of Ohio changed as of March 28, 2019. This was the first set of revisions to the code in 25 years.

If you are currently making child support payments as the result of a court order, Dagger Law recommends that you seek legal advice in order to educate yourself on the changes in the law and to see if a modification to your child support order would be beneficial. The Lancaster, Ohio child support lawyers at Dagger Law are trusted and experienced resources for all of your legal questions. If this change impacts your child support payments, we can provide assistance in getting a modification for your child support matter.

A few important changes to the child support guidelines in Ohio are:

• Updated economic tables which changed the formula for support based on parent incomes
• Increased the economic table cap from $150,000 combined income to $300,000 combined income
• Reductions in child support are possible if a standard (90 nights or more) or equal (147 nights or more) is reached during parenting time, and the individual is exercising their parenting time
• Standard income deductions for each child of the payor, treating each child equally even if there are different child support orders
• Established a “self-sufficiency reserve” which can assist lower-income payors in keeping some cash to support themselves after child support obligations have been met
  

Remarriage and Its Effects on Child Support

As time passes from a divorce, parents, guardians, or grandparents can choose to re-marry. This decision can have differing effects on child support being paid from the previous marriage. Ohio law provides a modification of child support if a non-residential parent (not the primary residence for the child) remarries. The state has also been known to allow for cases where a modification of child support is possible where the residential parent gets married as well. Some factors which can be considered in a modification to child support payments after marriage include:

• A reduction in expenses when a new spouse’s income is factored in. This may only serve as a factor for consideration and won’t be included in income calculations. Remarriage doesn’t add to income considered in child support, but likely alters the number of expenses that the parent pays for their share of the newly formed household.
• Additional children from remarriage can also modify child support orders. While common law held that a parent’s responsibility was to the children of the prior relationship, more modern views on child support orders hold that any obligation to support other people can be considered for modification of a child support order.

Please note that while this allows for the court, and parents of a child, to engage in a new discussion about the matter, it is ultimately up to the courts to place the child’s best interests first. We caution that any request to modify child support payments be approached with reasonable expectations based on guidance from your child custody attorney in Lancaster, Ohio.

Contact Dagger Law for More Information

At Dagger Law, we are happy to assist you with the legal issue that you are facing. Contact Dagger to learn more.