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Child Support Administrative Hearing

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OhioDad

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio.

I have an upcoming child support administrative hearing and I am curious to know if others have gone through this and found it beneficial to have an attorney present.

The hearing stems from an administrative adjustment review in which the CSEA found that the child support that I owe should be lowered by about 17%. My ex requested the administrative hearing.

The reason that I ask is that from my reading the powers that are granted to the Hearing Officer are limited to ensuring that the child support calculation was done correctly and that all the information used in the calculation is correct. My understanding is that deviations from the child support worksheeet and schedule can only be considered by the court, not the CSEA.

If I am correct in my reading, I am not sure that an attorney would be able to add much to the proceedings. I can see the efficacy of employing an attorney for a court hearing as this deals with much more squirrelly concepts (phrases such as "any other relevant factor" are sprinkled liberally in the sections dealing with the court hearing) and I am not confident in my abilities in that case. If the administrative hearing deals only with the facts of the case, should I feel confident in my ability to represent myself or are there gotchas waiting for me?

As you may have surmised, I am not in a position to afford an attorney right now. However, I am not fishing for people to give me a false sense of confidence -- if I am heading into a buzzsaw, I'd like to know :)

Thanks!
 


Ohiogal

Queen Bee
OhioDad said:
What is the name of your state? Ohio.

I have an upcoming child support administrative hearing and I am curious to know if others have gone through this and found it beneficial to have an attorney present.

The hearing stems from an administrative adjustment review in which the CSEA found that the child support that I owe should be lowered by about 17%. My ex requested the administrative hearing.

The reason that I ask is that from my reading the powers that are granted to the Hearing Officer are limited to ensuring that the child support calculation was done correctly and that all the information used in the calculation is correct. My understanding is that deviations from the child support worksheeet and schedule can only be considered by the court, not the CSEA.

If I am correct in my reading, I am not sure that an attorney would be able to add much to the proceedings. I can see the efficacy of employing an attorney for a court hearing as this deals with much more squirrelly concepts (phrases such as "any other relevant factor" are sprinkled liberally in the sections dealing with the court hearing) and I am not confident in my abilities in that case. If the administrative hearing deals only with the facts of the case, should I feel confident in my ability to represent myself or are there gotchas waiting for me?

As you may have surmised, I am not in a position to afford an attorney right now. However, I am not fishing for people to give me a false sense of confidence -- if I am heading into a buzzsaw, I'd like to know :)

Thanks!
CSEA cannot stray at all from the guidelines in the statute. They only apply them to the information. For any deviations, the court must decide. Attorney is not necessary at an administrative hearing but can be helpful to guide you through the process. but that is all. In court you definitely need an attorney for a variety of reasons.
 

OhioDad

Junior Member
Ohiogal,

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping that you would chime in -- I have read many of your posts and you seem to be one of the more reasonable voices on this forum.

Thanks again.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
OhioDad said:
Ohiogal,

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping that you would chime in -- I have read many of your posts and you seem to be one of the more reasonable voices on this forum.

Thanks again.
Thanks you for the compliment. The only other reason you would want an attorney at an administrative hearing is if you believe the other side is hiding their personal income (not their spouse's income but their's) because in Ohio both sides' income matters. But in a traditional administrative hearing they can ONLY apply the law at CSEA. Deviations are in court.
 

OhioDad

Junior Member
I am not concerned that the other side is hiding income -- I was actually surprised that the amount that the CSEA put on the worksheet was as high as it was. I had assumed that they had pulled tax records etc. to determine that amount, but after a little more reading of the statues, I now suspect that they may have imputed income to my ex.

To my knowledge, my ex is employed part-time and the amount that the CSEA showed on the worksheet would workout to a very high hourly wage. Am I correct that the CSEA can impute income to an under-employed parent (she is a college graduate, but works part time)? If I am right, is this a common occurrence? If they have imputed and that is what is being challenged am I in you-need-a-lawyer territory?

I know for sure that the CSEA missed my ex's subsequent children (she is remarried), so it is possible that this is the only reason for the request for the administrative hearing. However, if they are getting into the imputed income, can they argue that she is working part time because of her other kids and therefore should not have income imputed?

Just in case anyone assumes that I am just annoyed at the part-time work thing, I do not have a problem with mothers staying home to raise their children. I am remarried and my wife and I made the decision that she would stay home and raise the kids. Yes, my wife put her career on hold and we sacrificed the luxuries, but we think that the kids have benefitted greatly from this arrangement and we have no regrets about it. I know that it isn't an option for everyone, but my wife and I were able to make it work, so we did. Sorry for the detour away from facts and into philosophy, but after some of the flames that I have seen, I felt it necessary to avoid potential side tracks.
 

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