Financial Plans For Children
When your family structure is changing, it is important to make provisions for the financial support of your children. The child support attorneys at the Cincinnati law firm of Brinkman & Associates can help establish, modify and enforce support arrangements.
A worksheet calculates the amount of support, but there is a lot of room for interpretation of exactly what numbers should go into the formula. We are dedicated to digging deeper into the issues to obtain a positive result for you. Part of this is done through the determination of income.
How Does Ohio Define Income?
There are many provisions in the Ohio Revised Code devoted to defining income. Your pay stub is not the sole means of defining gross income. Income also includes your earning potential. For example, if you are a physician, but you are currently working at a lower-income job, the court can impute income to you. Based on your earning potential, it might be more appropriate and in the best interests of your children to use an income of $200,000 instead of the $20,000 in wages you are currently earning.
What Is Reasonable?
Is it reasonable to expect someone to pay $8,000 in child care expenses when that person’s income is only $10,000 per year? The same argument can be made concerning health care expenses and education expenses. Orders are also made in regard to health care premiums and non-covered expenses, such as orthodontia and psychological and dental needs. Additionally, the schedule that helps parents determine child support tops out at a certain level. Parents with a high income will need assistance to determine an appropriate level of support since this is done on a case-by-case basis.
The court does not have to follow the formula set forth in the guidelines. We will explore options for deviating from the guidelines for reasons such as the sharing of child-related expenses, parenting time allocation, court-ordered payments, extraordinary medical expenses or parenting time travel expenses.
Who Is Paying For College
While the court cannot order parents to pay support for healthy children after the age of emancipation, the parents can make enforceable agreements regarding college expenses. Such agreements, however, are very risky and require serious discussions regarding the pros and cons.
Get The Support Your Child Needs
We provide effective representation for people who are facing issues regarding the support of children and support enforcement. Contact our firm online or call 513-632-5310 to schedule an initial consultation to discuss your situation with a lawyer.