Ohio § 3119.05

§ 3119.05.

When a court computes the amount of child support required to be paid under a court

child support order or a child support enforcement agency computes the amount of child

support to be paid pursuant to an administrative child support order, all of the following

apply: (A) The parents' current and past income and personal earnings shall be verified by electronic

means or with suitable documents, including, but not limited to, paystubs, employer

statements, receipts and expense vouchers related to self-generated income, tax returns,

and all supporting documentation and schedules for the tax returns. (B) The annual amount of any court-ordered spousal support actually paid, excluding any

ordered payment on arrears, shall be deducted from the annual income of that parent

to the extent that payment of that court-ordered spousal support is verified by supporting

documentation. (C) The court or agency shall adjust the amount of child support paid by a parent to

give credit for children not included in the current calculation.  When calculating the adjusted amount, the court or agency shall use the schedule

and do the following: (1) Determine the amount of child support that each parent would be ordered to pay for

all children for whom the parent has the legal duty to support, according to each

parent's annual income.  If the number of children subject to the order is greater than six, multiply the

amount for three children in accordance with division (C)(4) of this section to determine

the amount of child support. (2) Compute a child support credit amount for each parent's children who are not subject

to this order by dividing the amount determined in division (C)(1) of this section

by the total number of children whom the parent is obligated to support and multiplying

that number by the number of the parent's children who are not subject to this order. (3) Determine the adjusted income of the parents by subtracting the credit for minor

children not subject to this order computed under division (C)(2) of this section,

from the annual income of each parent for the children each has a duty to support

that are not subject to this order. (4) If the number of children is greater than six, multiply the amount for three children

by: (a) 1.440 for seven children; (b) 1.540 for eight children; (c) 1.638 for nine children; (d) 1.734 for ten children; (e) 1.827 for eleven children; (f) 1.919 for twelve children; (g) 2.008 for thirteen children; (h) 2.096 for fourteen children; (i) 2.182 for more than fourteen children. (D) When the court or agency calculates the annual income of a parent, it shall include

the lesser of the following as income from overtime and bonuses: (1) The yearly average of all overtime, commissions, and bonuses received during the

three years immediately prior to the time when the person's child support obligation

is being computed; (2) The total overtime, commissions, and bonuses received during the year immediately

prior to the time when the person's child support obligation is being computed. (E) When the court or agency calculates the annual income of a parent, it shall not include

any income earned by the spouse of that parent. (F) The court shall issue a separate medical support order for extraordinary medical

expenses, including orthodontia, dental, optical, and psychological services. If the court makes an order for payment of private education, and other appropriate

expenses, it shall do so by issuing a separate order. The court may consider these expenses in adjusting a child support order. (G) When a court or agency calculates the amount of child support to be paid pursuant

to a court child support order or an administrative child support order, the following

shall apply: (1) The court or agency shall apply the basic child support schedule to the parents'

combined annual incomes and to each parent's individual income. (2) If the combined annual income of both parents or the individual annual income of

a parent is an amount that is between two amounts set forth in the first column of

the schedule, the court or agency may use the basic child support obligation that

corresponds to the higher of the two amounts in the first column of the schedule,

use the basic child support obligation that corresponds to the lower of the two amounts

in the first column of the schedule, or calculate a basic child support obligation

that is between those two amounts and corresponds proportionally to the parents' actual

combined annual income or the individual parent's annual income. (3) If the annual individual income of either or both of the parents is within the self-sufficiency

reserve in the basic child support schedule, the court or agency shall do both of

the following: (a) Calculate the basic child support obligation for the parents using the schedule amount

applicable to the combined annual income and the schedule amount applicable to the

income in the self-sufficiency reserve; (b) Determine the lesser of the following amounts to be the applicable basic child support

obligation: (i) The amount that results from using the combined annual income of the parents not

in the self-sufficiency reserve of the schedule;  or (ii) The amount that results from using the individual parent's income within the self-sufficiency

reserve of the schedule. (H) When the court or agency calculates annual income, the court or agency, when appropriate,

may average income over a reasonable period of years. (I) Unless it would be unjust or inappropriate and therefore not in the best interests

of the child, a court or agency shall not determine a parent to be voluntarily unemployed

or underemployed and shall not impute income to that parent if any of the following

conditions exist: (1) The parent is receiving recurring monetary income from means-tested public assistance

benefits, including cash assistance payments under the Ohio works first program established

under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code, general assistance under former Chapter 5113.

of the Revised Code, supplemental security income, or means-tested veterans' benefits; (2) The parent is approved for social security disability insurance benefits because

of a mental or physical disability, or the court or agency determines that the parent

is unable to work based on medical documentation that includes the diagnosis of a

physician, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or certified nurse

practitioner and the physician's or nurse's opinion regarding the parent's mental

or physical disability and inability to work. (3) The parent has proven that the parent has made continuous and diligent efforts without

success to find and accept employment, including temporary employment, part-time employment,

or employment at less than the parent's previous salary or wage. (4) The parent is complying with court-ordered family reunification efforts in a child

abuse, neglect, or dependency proceeding, to the extent that compliance with those

efforts limits the parent's ability to earn income. (5) The parent is institutionalized for a period of twelve months or more with no other

available income or assets. (J) When a court or agency calculates the income of a parent, it shall not determine

a parent to be voluntarily unemployed or underemployed and shall not impute income

to that parent if the parent is incarcerated. (K) When a court or agency requires a parent to pay an amount for that parent's failure

to support a child for a period of time prior to the date the court modifies or issues

a court child support order or an agency modifies or issues an administrative child

support order for the current support of the child, the court or agency shall calculate

that amount using the basic child support schedule, worksheets, and child support

laws in effect, and the incomes of the parents as they existed, for that prior period

of time. (L) A court or agency may disregard a parent's additional income from overtime or additional

employment when the court or agency finds that the additional income was generated

primarily to support a new or additional family member or members, or under other

appropriate circumstances. (M) If both parents involved in the immediate child support determination have a prior

order for support relative to a minor child or children born to both parents, the

court or agency shall collect information about the existing order or orders and consider

those together with the current calculation for support to ensure that the total of

all orders for all children of the parties does not exceed the amount that would have

been ordered if all children were addressed in a single judicial or administrative

proceeding. (N) A support obligation of a parent with annual income subject to the self-sufficiency

reserve of the basic child support schedule shall not exceed the support obligation

that would result from application of the schedule without the reserve. (O) Any non-means tested benefit received by the child or children subject to the order

resulting from the claims of either parent shall be deducted from that parent's annual

child support obligation after all other adjustments have been made.  If that non-means tested benefit exceeds the child support obligation of the parent

from whose claim the benefit is realized, the child support obligation for that parent

shall be zero. (P) As part of the child support calculation, the parents shall be ordered to share the

costs of child care.  Subject to the limitations in this division, a child support obligor shall pay an

amount equal to the obligor's income share of the child care cost incurred for the

child or children subject to the order. (1) The child care cost used in the calculation: (a) Shall be for the child determined to be necessary to allow a parent to work, or for

activities related to employment training; (b) Shall be verifiable by credible evidence as determined by a court or child support

enforcement agency; (c) Shall exclude any reimbursed or subsidized child care cost, including any state or

federal tax credit for child care available to the parent or caretaker, whether or

not claimed 1 (d) Shall not exceed the maximum state-wide average cost estimate as determined in accordance

with 45 C.F.R. 98.45 . (2) When the annual income of the obligor is subject to the self-sufficiency reserve

of the basic support schedule, the share of the child care cost paid by the obligor

shall be equal to the lower of the obligor's income share of the child care cost,

or fifty per cent of the child care cost. (Q) As used in this section, a parent is considered “incarcerated” if the parent is confined

under a sentence imposed for an offense or serving a term of imprisonment, jail, or

local incarceration, or other term under a sentence imposed by a government entity

authorized to order such confinement. 1

 So in original.