Child custody in Ohio

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

1. The parents' wishes about the child's care.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(a)
2. If the judge interviewed the child in chambers, the child's wishes and concerns as told to the judge.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(b)
3. The child's relationships with parents, brothers and sisters, and anyone else who may significantly affect the child's best interest.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(c)
4. The child's adjustment to home, school, and community.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(d)
5. The mental and physical health of everyone involved.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(e)
6. Which parent is more likely to honor and support court-approved parenting time or visitation.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(f)
7. Whether either parent has failed to make all required child support payments, including past-due support.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(g)
8. • Whether a parent or household member was convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense that led to a child being abused or neglected, or was found to be the abuser in a child abuse or neglect case
   • was convicted of domestic violence or a sexually oriented offense against a family or household member
   • or was convicted of an offense that physically harmed a family or household member
   • and whether there is reason to believe a parent acted in a way that led to a child being abused or neglected.
   Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(h)
9. Whether the residential parent (or a parent under shared parenting) has continuously and willfully denied the other parent's court-ordered parenting time.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(i)
10. Whether either parent has moved, or plans to move, out of Ohio.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(1)(j)

Other things the judge considers

• For shared parenting, the judge also considers:
  • The parents' ability to cooperate and make decisions together
  • Each parent's ability to encourage love, affection, and contact with the other parent
  • Any history of or potential for child abuse, spouse abuse, other domestic violence, or parental kidnapping
  • How close the parents live to each other
  • The guardian ad litem's recommendation, if there is one.
  Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(F)(2)
• For parenting time and visitation, the judge considers 16 factors, including the child's prior relationships, the distance between homes, everyone's schedules, the child's age, the child's wishes if interviewed, health and safety, time with siblings, willingness to reschedule missed time, abuse or neglect history, denial of parenting time, and plans to move out of state.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.051(D)
• In a dispute with the parents, the judge must treat the mother and father as equals.Ohio Rev. Code §§ 3109.03, 3109.042(A)
• Shared parenting is possible only if a parent asks for it and files a shared parenting plan. If the judge approves a plan, it should ensure frequent and continuing contact with both parents unless that is not in the child's best interest.Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(D)(1), (G)

What the judge may not consider

The judge cannot prefer a parent because of that parent's financial status or condition. Past, present, or possible future active military service is not a change in circumstances that can justify changing custody.

Joint custody

No presumption. The judge can order shared parenting only if at least one parent asks for it and files a shared parenting plan, and the judge finds the plan is in the child's best interest. If parents file a joint request and plan, the judge reviews it and approves it if it is in the child's best interest. Otherwise the judge names one parent the residential parent and legal custodian.

The child's wishes

The judge may, and must if either parent asks, interview the child in chambers about the child's wishes and concerns. The judge first decides if the child has enough reasoning ability. The law does not set an age. No one may get a written or recorded statement from the child about custody, and the judge cannot consider one.

Domestic violence

There is no flat presumption against custody. But if a parent was convicted of or pleaded guilty to domestic violence or a sexually oriented offense against a family or household member, or an offense that physically harmed one, or was found to be the abuser in a child abuse case, the judge may name that parent the residential parent or order shared parenting only if the judge finds it is in the child's best interest and makes specific written findings. If a parent acted in a way that led to a child being neglected, the judge must weigh that against naming that parent the residential parent and against shared parenting. History or potential of abuse or domestic violence is also a shared parenting factor.

Who has custody before a court order

An unmarried woman who gives birth is the sole residential parent and legal custodian of the child until a court names someone else. When a court decides, it must treat the mother and father as equals. The father must be legally established as the father (an acknowledgment that has become final, or a court or agency finding) before the court can give him parenting time or custody. The statewide complaint form lets a parent ask the court to decide parentage and custody in the same case.

Establishing paternity

How

Parents can sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit for free, for example at the hospital or at the county Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA). It is filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Office of Child Support (Central Paternity Registry). It becomes final and enforceable once filed, entered in the birth registry, and no longer subject to rescission. To rescind it, a person who signed must, within 60 days after the last signature, ask the CSEA for genetic testing and tell the Office of Child Support in writing; then an order must find whether he is the father. If parents do not sign, the CSEA can order genetic testing and issue an administrative order, or a court can decide. Paternity can be established until the child turns 23.

Form

Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit

Cancellation form

No separate rescission form: within 60 days, request a genetic test determination from the county CSEA and give the Office of Child Support written notice

Agency

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Office of Child Support (county Child Support Enforcement Agencies)
https://jfs.ohio.gov/page/0141Z5q27auoB6H2VyN4B0
1-800-686-1556

Changing an order

The court will not change a custody decree unless, based on facts that arose after the decree or were unknown then, there has been a change in circumstances of the child, the residential parent, or either parent under shared parenting, and the change is necessary for the child's best interest. The court keeps the current residential parent unless the change is in the child's best interest and one of these is true:

• The residential parent agrees
• The child has been integrated into the other person's family with the residential parent's consent
• The harm of changing homes is outweighed by the advantages.

Parents can jointly change a shared parenting plan at any time if the court approves, and the court can end shared parenting if it is no longer in the child's best interest.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(E)

If the other parent does not follow the order

If the other parent does not follow the parenting time or visitation order, you can file a motion for contempt (Uniform Domestic Relations Form 24 / Juvenile Form 3). If the court finds the person in contempt for failing to follow or interfering with the order, it must also make that person pay all court costs of the contempt case and your reasonable attorney fees, in addition to other penalties. You can also ask to change the order. Continuous and willful denial of parenting time is a factor in later custody decisions.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2705.031(B)(2), 3109.04(F)(1)(i), 3109.051(K)

Grandparent visitation

Yes, in three situations.

• In a divorce, dissolution, legal separation, annulment, or child support case, any grandparent, relative, or other person can file a motion for reasonable companionship or visitation, during the case or after it ends; the court must find the person has an interest in the child's welfare and that visits are in the child's best interest.
• If a parent has died, that parent's parents and other relatives can file a complaint in the county where the child lives.
• If the child was born to an unmarried mother, her parents and relatives can file; the father's parents and relatives can file only after his paternity is legally established.

In each case the court decides the child's best interest using the parenting time factors, including the parents' wishes.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

A relative or other person can ask the juvenile court to decide custody of a child who is not a ward of another court. The court decides according to state law and the child's best interest.

Custody and visitation in the order

Yes. In a case between family or household members, the protection order can temporarily allocate parental rights and responsibilities and set temporary parenting time, if no other court has decided or is deciding those issues. That part ends when a divorce, dissolution, or legal separation court issues its own custody order. The court holds the ex parte hearing the same day the petition is filed.

Military parents

A parent who gets orders for active military service must tell the other parent within 3 days. Either parent can ask for an expedited hearing, held within 30 days. Military service alone is not a change in circumstances for changing custody. A temporary order during service ends within 10 days after notice that service ended, unless that is not in the child's best interest.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code § 3109.04(I); § 3109.051(M)