Our Northeast Ohio child support lawyers have extensive family law knowledge. We understand Ohio’s guidelines for calculating child support. We also have experience representing both sides of the issue: parents pursuing support and parents facing support obligations.
At Anthony & Zomoida, our Northeast Ohio child support attorneys can provide realistic expectations for your situation. Many parents believe that a shared parenting plan, or shared legal custody, will automatically reduce their child support obligations. However, that is not always true. We can review your financial records according to Ohio’s child support guidelines. Our calculations can provide a realistic range and best-case scenario of your situation.
Support Guidelines
In Ohio, the court uses pre-set calculations to determine child support. However, the total scope of child support covers many other factors. Child support involves more than a monthly amount paid from one parent to another; it must define the entire scope of support, including:
- Tax dependency award: Who can claim a child for any given year
- Which parent will cover the children’s health insurance
- How to divide uncovered or non-reimbursed medical expenses
Our attorneys can discuss your situation and goals. Depending on your situation and goals, we can investigate child support statutory deviations and whether you could qualify.
Support Deviations
Under Ohio law, statutory deviations can be used to reduce child support obligations. Each deviation is determined according to the best interest of the child. Our lawyers understand these deviations. We can investigate deviations and determine which you may qualify for. Some common deviation factors are:
- Equal amount of time spent with the child
- Extraordinary costs of providing for the child
- Costs of travel to exercise visitation with the child
- Payment of extracurricular expenses for the child
- Income contributed by another to the payee/obligee
- Any other factor impacting the well being of the child
Depending on your situation, we can also prepare arguments against your ex-spouse receiving a deviation. We can review the requested deviation and investigate the merits of the request. We can then prepare a case to demonstrate to the court that the net result of your ex-spouse’s request would not be in the best interest of your children.