Ohio Home Invoice 508: A Doubtlessly Monumental Shift in Ohio Little one Custody | Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

On December 8, 2021, Ohio House Bill 508 (HB 508) — which would make the presumed outcome in custody matters a shared parenting and equal parenting schedule — was introduced into the Ohio Legislature by Rep. Thomas West (D). . and Rodney Creech (R). Although HB 508 has not progressed past the initial stages of the legislative process, the bill has already garnered a measure of bipartisan support, suggesting that potential major changes to Ohio child custody laws may be on the horizon.

In light of this development, we intend to examine the content of HB 508, as well as the potential implications of the legislation if passed, in a series of two articles on the subject. To truly understand HB 508 and how it could affect Ohio custody laws, it is important to first understand the nature and status of Ohio’s current custody laws.

OHIOS CURRENT CHILD CUSTODY LAW

Currently in Ohio, there are two primary ways custody of minor children can be divided between parents: co-parenting and sole custody. Although the term “joint custody” is used widely in popular culture, in reality it is not a type of custody arrangement in Ohio. The key difference between joint parenting and sole custody relates to parental decision-making—specifically, who is entitled to make decisions for the minor children.

In a sole custody arrangement, only one parent (ie the parent living in the household) has the right to make decisions for the minor children and the other parent (ie the parent living outside the household) has the right to visit the minor children. In contrast, in a joint parenting arrangement, each parent is considered the resident parent – ​​and is therefore entitled to make decisions for the underage children.

It is also important to note that a family’s custody arrangement (i.e. joint parenting vs. sole custody) is entirely independent of the visitation schedule enjoyed by the parents with their minor children. Therefore, a particular custody arrangement does not necessarily establish or require a specific related parental leave or visitation schedule. For example, a family might have co-parenting where one of the parents spends the vast majority of parental leave with the minor children. Likewise, a family could have a sole custody agreement where the parties have approximately the same parenting time as the minor children.

DETERMINING AN APPROPRIATE DEPOSIT REGULATION

So how do the Ohio courts currently determine an appropriate custody agreement and parental leave or visitation schedule in a child custody case (including a child divorce action or a custody issue involving unmarried parents)? Ultimately, the court must evaluate the evidence and make a custody decision — specifically, either joint parenting or sole custody — that is in the best interests of the child or children in question. Likewise, after examining the evidence, the court must also establish an appropriate parenting time or visitation schedule that is in the best interests of the child or children in question.

However, currently for a court to apportion custody between parents under a co-parenting agreement, one of the parents must take positive steps to tell the court that he or she believes that co-parenting is in the best interests of the children . These affirmative steps include, but are not limited to, submitting a proposed joint parenting plan to the court for review and consideration. If neither parent makes such affirmative steps in court, the court cannot, under applicable Ohio custody laws, issue a co-parenting order and instead award sole custody to only one parent. This applies even if the court at issue considers, based on the evidence presented, that shared parenting is in fact in the best interests of the children. In this way, Ohio’s current custody laws operate in a manner that effectively ties the hands of the courts and establishes sole custody as a presumptive outcome in a custody case unless positive steps are taken by either parent to request and prove otherwise to court.

ISSUING A PARENTAL LEAVE OR VISITING SCHEDULE

Because the issue at issue is a parental leave or visitation plan in a custody matter, the current starting point for an Ohio court’s analysis is usually the standard parental leave and visitation plan issued by that particular court. Typically, most standard parental leave and visitation plans issued by Ohio courts result in one parent receiving just over half the annual parental leave with the child, while the other parent receiving slightly less than half the annual parental leave . In particular, however, an Ohio court is under no obligation to issue only its standard parental leave and schedule of visits. Instead, any Ohio court has full discretion to deviate from its standard parental leave and visitation schedule if the circumstances of a case dictate that such deviation is reasonable and in the best interests of the child. In fact, Ohio courts often deviate from their usual parental leave and visitation schedules—either by awarding extended or reduced parental leave—as each individual custody issue must be evaluated and analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

TREATMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF HB 508

While the above summary is oversimplified in nature, it provides a general summary of applicable statutes and laws in Ohio’s child custody cases. Consequently, the natural next questions are: How would HB 508, if passed by the Ohio Legislature, affect the current custody and parental leave or visitation framework, as described above? As a practical matter, if passed, how might HB 508 affect the current status of child custody arrangements in Ohio generally? We will explore these issues in detail in the next part of this series.

At KJK Family Law, we understand how difficult it can be to deal with child custody issues, especially when applicable laws may soon be in flux. Rest assured that we will keep abreast of such developments and we are here to advise you in a manner that gives due consideration to both the current and potentially upcoming regulatory environment that you need to be aware of.