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 amount of any pre-existing child support obligation of a parent under a child support order and the amount of any court-ordered spousal support actually paid shall be deducted from the gross income of that parent to the extent that payment under the child support order or that payment of the court-ordered spousal support is verified by supporting documentation.
(C) If other minor children who were born to the parent and a person other than the other parent who is involved in the immediate child support determination live with the parent, the court or agency shall deduct an amount from that parent's gross income that equals the number of such minor children times the federal income tax exemption for such children less child support received for them for the year, not exceeding the federal income tax exemption.
(D) When the court or agency calculates the gross 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 gross income of a parent, it shall not include any income earned by the spouse of that parent.
(F) The court shall issue a separate order for extraordinary medical or dental expenses, including, but not limited to, orthodontia, psychological, appropriate private education, and other expenses, and may consider the 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, if the combined gross income of both parents 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 gross income.
(H) When the court or agency calculates gross 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 either 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, financial assistance under the disability financial assistance program established under Chapter 5115. of the Revised Code, supplemental security income, or means-tested veterans' benefits;
(2) The parent is incarcerated or institutionalized for a period of twelve months or more with no other available assets, unless the parent is incarcerated for an offense relating to the abuse or neglect of a child who is the subject of the support order or an offense under Title XXIX of the Revised Code when the obligee or a child who is the subject of the support order is a victim of the offense.
(J) 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.
(K) 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.
(L) 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.
Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.131, SB 337, ยง1, eff. 9/28/2012.
Effective Date: 03-22-2001; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007
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