Child Support as informal / as divorce agreement / not enforced by CSEA

[need2]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio / Hamilton County

Does the CSEA (child support enforcement agency) always have to enforce child support in the case of child in a divorce?

Assuming parents are level headed to each other and willing to work together to support their child, is it possible to have informal agreement for child support? (Things like, "We agree to work together in taking care of the child on our own without intervention from law enforcement.") Or maybe even when it is detailed (e.g. dad will pay monthly college savings, mom will pay school activities, etc.).

My lawyer said it is not possible (it has to be enforced through CSEA using state guidelines), only spousal support can be negotiated as such. But I have seen a glimpse of this possibility through reading some websites, but nothing very definitive, especially in Ohio, hence my question here.

Thanks very much in advance.

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio / Hamilton County

Does the CSEA (child support enforcement agency) always have to enforce child support in the case of child in a divorce?

Assuming parents are level headed to each other and willing to work together to support their child, is it possible to have informal agreement for child support? (Things like, "We agree to work together in taking care of the child on our own without intervention from law enforcement.") Or maybe even when it is detailed (e.g. dad will pay monthly college savings, mom will pay school activities, etc.).

My lawyer said it is not possible (it has to be enforced through CSEA using state guidelines), only spousal support can be negotiated as such. But I have seen a glimpse of this possibility through reading some websites, but nothing very definitive, especially in Ohio, hence my question here.

Thanks very much in advance.

You should listen to your attorney.

 

[need2]

You should listen to your attorney.

Thank you for your reply. I noticed this question has been asked quite a lot of times, I apologize.

Is it possible that we don't do child support at all? For example, if father or mother who supposed to get child support rejects it.

Thanks

 

[stealth2]

The easiest way to handle it is for the ordered parent to pay it, the recieving parent to cash the check, and then the RP hand the money back to the P(aying)P. Of course, this is not foolproof.

 

[Ohiogal]

You can agree on a downward deviation to zero depending on whether or not there is a best interest reason to support said deviation. Then you can each pay individual things outlined by the shared parenting agreement. It works if the parties agree. If the parties don't agree or there is any child support to be exchanged then child support MUST go through CSEA.

 

[need2]

Hamilton County CSEA has a chat feature, I was waiting for it to be available (at 11 am).
So I did a chat with them and here's some of the responses I got:

[Me] can child support be an informal agreement between parents (bypassing court / csea)
[Agent] Yes they can as long as the custodial parent is not receiveing medical or cash from FAA
[Me] When divorced parents do child support as informal agreement does it still have to follow state guidelines on child support?
[Agent] You can do whatever you would like.
[Me] When parents do this informal agreements, can one parent later on file for child support through CSEA?
[Agent] Yes they can.

What do you think of their responses? Am I beating a dead horse?

Thanks

 

[Silverplum]

Hamilton County CSEA has a chat feature, I was waiting for it to be available (at 11 am).
So I did a chat with them and here's some of the responses I got:

[Me] can child support be an informal agreement between parents (bypassing court / csea)
[Agent] Yes they can as long as the custodial parent is not receiveing medical or cash from FAA
[Me] When divorced parents do child support as informal agreement does it still have to follow state guidelines on child support?
[Agent] You can do whatever you would like.
[Me] When parents do this informal agreements, can one parent later on file for child support through CSEA?
[Agent] Yes they can.

What do you think of their responses? Am I beating a dead horse?

Thanks

Yes.
Why are you so determined to be The One Guy in Ohio that doesn't pay through CSEA??

 

[Zigner]

Hamilton County CSEA has a chat feature, I was waiting for it to be available (at 11 am).
So I did a chat with them and here's some of the responses I got:

[Me] can child support be an informal agreement between parents (bypassing court / csea)
[Agent] Yes they can as long as the custodial parent is not receiveing medical or cash from FAA
[Me] When divorced parents do child support as informal agreement does it still have to follow state guidelines on child support?
[Agent] You can do whatever you would like.
[Me] When parents do this informal agreements, can one parent later on file for child support through CSEA?
[Agent] Yes they can.

What do you think of their responses? Am I beating a dead horse?

Thanks

I think you should listen to your attorney...or even the Ohio attorney on this forum who has responded with substantially the same information as you received when you chatted with the CSEA folks...

 

[LdiJ]

Hamilton County CSEA has a chat feature, I was waiting for it to be available (at 11 am).
So I did a chat with them and here's some of the responses I got:

[Me] can child support be an informal agreement between parents (bypassing court / csea)
[Agent] Yes they can as long as the custodial parent is not receiveing medical or cash from FAA
[Me] When divorced parents do child support as informal agreement does it still have to follow state guidelines on child support?
[Agent] You can do whatever you would like.
[Me] When parents do this informal agreements, can one parent later on file for child support through CSEA?
[Agent] Yes they can.

What do you think of their responses? Am I beating a dead horse?

Thanks

I think that you are beating a dead horse in my opinion. You have to formally agree, as part of your divorce case. The judge has to agree to sign off on your divorce agreement. When push comes to shove I suspect that the other parent will not agree, or the judge won't agree to sign off on it.

You really need to be listening to your attorney.

 

[need2]

Yes.
Why are you so determined to be The One Guy in Ohio that doesn't pay through CSEA??

Because this enforcement is difficult to manage/change and on top of that there are fees and attorney fees to do anything about it. We are separated right now (not divorced yet) and we generally have generally 50/50 time share, (some weeks she has more, some weeks i have more). Sometimes she make more money, sometimes I make more money. When I have more money I pay anything that the other needed, and vice versa. It has been going on like this for 2 years. Rather than further complicates things (and pay fees on top of that) we would like to take care of these things by our own.

Not saying it wont go south some time later of course... so there is that bit of worry in me...

Thanks

 

[Ohiogal]

Jeez. You don't want to listen to me. Fine. I won't respond anymore.

 

[need2]

I'm sorry if I come across that way, I really appreciate all your responses. I just want to know all my options.

So again thank you for your responses, I will think deep and hard to consider these options.

Regards,

 

[Proserpina]

Need, what's the current immigration status of your wife?

(I've briefly reviewed your post hx)

 

[need2]

Need, what's the current immigration status of your wife?

(I've briefly reviewed your post hx)

Oh thanks for looking up. I got my GC from work and therefore she also. So we both permanent residents.

 

[Proserpina]

Oh thanks for looking up. I got my GC from work and therefore she also. So we both permanent residents.

Okay, thank you - that's a HUGE plus for all of you. This means that if she wants to return to Europe (it is eastern Europe, yes?) she's going to have one hell of a time convincing a court that it's in the child's best interest. I know it's probably not a concern now but I do recall it being an issue at first.

Outside of that, you've received some great information on this thread.