5 Things to Do When You Receive an Administrative Order for Child Support and Medical Support

1. Check when the order became effective. If you are employed, the withholding order on your wages will not be instantaneous, which means that you are responsible for paying child support directly to CSEA until the withholding order is in place, otherwise arrears will accumulate.

2. Do not pay child support directly to the other parent! Money paid directly to the other parent will be considered a gift and will not go towards your child support obligation.

3. Check how much the order is for. The amount will differ depending on whether you are providing health insurance for the child or not. If you are not providing health insurance then you will be required to pay cash medical support.

4. Check the Computation Worksheet to see whether the numbers are accurate. If the numbers are not accurate, you may need to object to the order by bringing an action in juvenile court within 30 days of the issuance of the order.

5. Consider whether there are other reasons why your child support should be lower. Ohio law states that the Court may decrease or increase your child support from the amount calculated on the Computation Worksheet based on a number of factors, including special and unusual needs of the child; extended parenting time or extraordinary costs associated with parenting time; disparity in income between the parents; benefits that either parent receives from remarriage or sharing living expenses with another person; the relative financial resources, other assets and resources and needs of each parent; the responsibility of each parent for the support of others; among other factors. If any of the factors apply to you, you may wish to object to the order by bringing an action in juvenile court within 30 days of the issuance of the order.