Ohio Child Support Calculation

[kik1999]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I'm looking at my brother's petition for dissolution that his stbx wife's atty has drawn up...he is going pro se. He will be the residential parent. The child support disclosure states that her premium for medical insurance for both her and their daughter is 587 annually. However, in the calculation, it states she pays over $3300 for "marginal, out of pocket costs, necessary to provide health insurance for the child who is subject to this order". There is no way she pays $3300 out of pocket medical expenses for the child. She claims the atty came up with this number based on some type of COBRA figure? She has insurance through her company, which is unionized. Should he be asking for receipts?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[nextwife]

Are they saying the EMPLOYER paid portion of the insurance is another $3300? Unless she is actually paying COBRA, she can't use the COBRA cost of the insurance.

 

[kik1999]

No, this is under 'adjustments to child support'. It's stating that she has paid this amount for out of pocket. Kind of fishy if you ask me. The entire worksheet is 'fudged' on her part, IMO. She has bonuses that are not listed on the worksheet, but when he asked her why they weren't listed, she claims they are included in her total income. Her total income is about $15000 less than what is claimed on her taxes. They agree on everything except child support. She wanted him to agree to $400/month. He asked that they just use the worksheet, so neither can come back later and say the $400 wasn't fair. Now, the worksheet is totalling $404 that she would owe, but the numbers don't look factual based on these two items...the $3300 in out of pocket costs, and the fact that her bonuses were not included. I'm just wondering if she's trying to pull something on him, or if there was a valid explanation for the $3300. I hope I'm making sense...

 

[kik1999]

Is there anyone who might be able to explain the reason why this 'expense' on a worksheet/calculation is normally filled out? I just want to confirm whether or not he should be asking for additional information on this amount. If there wasn't this deviation, he'd be getting a significant amount more monthly, so he wants to make sure this is a valid expense so child support is calculated fairly for his daughter.

Thank you again in advance.

 

[LdiJ]

Is there anyone who might be able to explain the reason why this 'expense' on a worksheet/calculation is normally filled out? I just want to confirm whether or not he should be asking for additional information on this amount. If there wasn't this deviation, he'd be getting a significant amount more monthly, so he wants to make sure this is a valid expense so child support is calculated fairly for his daughter.

Thank you again in advance.

587 annually for insurance for a parent and child is incredibly low, even with a union involved. Therefore it may be a fairly high deductible policy or the 3300.00 (which would be 275.00) a month, may be a health savings plan to go along with the high deductible insurance.

 

[BS Spotter]

Demand proof of the cost of insurance on all levels -- single, single plus spouse, single plus kids and family plan. You want documented proof from the company's health benefits coordinator AND several months of pay stubs as proof. DO NOT go on what the other parent's attorney states without the proof.

 

[kik1999]

Thank you very much, both, for your replies. Possibly you are correct, LdiJ. He does know that she has a dependant care account for medical, however, this is for herself, their daughter and another child she has from a previous marriage (her medical expenses far outweigh their daughter's, by her own admission). I never thought about this, but the flexible spending account could be a possiblity as well? I will have to say, I'm very impressed for his motivation, which is not $$, but what is fair to his child. He wants what is best for her, no matter the "cost" - he believes both parents should provide equally. He just wants to fully understand what he is agreeing to...

Thank you again!!

 

[Ohiogal]

Parents in Ohio do not provide equally -- they provide proportionately.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you very much, both, for your replies. Possibly you are correct, LdiJ. He does know that she has a dependant care account for medical, however, this is for herself, their daughter and another child she has from a previous marriage (her medical expenses far outweigh their daughter's, by her own admission). I never thought about this, but the flexible spending account could be a possiblity as well? I will have to say, I'm very impressed for his motivation, which is not $$, but what is fair to his child. He wants what is best for her, no matter the "cost" - he believes both parents should provide equally. He just wants to fully understand what he is agreeing to...

Thank you again!!

If she has a dependent care account for medical, then I think that what the employer provides is a high deductible policy, and the dependent care account is to cover the high deductible. This is becoming more and more common. For a family of 3, 3300.00 would be a fairly low amount to go into an HSA, so it may not be the entire amount.

He needs to require her to provide full disclosure/documentation on this. The employer may be contributing something to the HSA and only the applicable amount for their child should be included in the CS calculation.

 

[kik1999]

Thank you all for your replies and expertise! He brought these items to her attention, the worksheet was miraculously recalculated and viola! She'll be paying $150 more per month in cs according to HER attorney's calculation.

Ohiogal, I am aware that parents do not pay equally but proportionately based on their combined incomes, which is why this was somewhat of an issue. She makes around $65k annually to his $26k annually, with him having residential custody...the initial calculation was only stating she made $48k annually with this $3300 out of pocket medical expense. It wasn't making sense as he is aware that she makes considerably more money than the worksheet was reflecting.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you all for your replies and expertise! He brought these items to her attention, the worksheet was miraculously recalculated and viola! She'll be paying $150 more per month in cs according to HER attorney's calculation.

Ohiogal, I am aware that parents do not pay equally but proportionately based on their combined incomes, which is why this was somewhat of an issue. She makes around $65k annually to his $26k annually, with him having residential custody...the initial calculation was only stating she made $48k annually with this $3300 out of pocket medical expense. It wasn't making sense as he is aware that she makes considerably more money than the worksheet was reflecting.

Have you seen the ENTIRE worksheet? Does she have any other children? Medical costs are something that can be quite expensive. Is that 3300 a month or a year?

 

[kik1999]

I, too, tried to give her the benefit of the doubt...no other children, and not to mention, she hasn't been the one caring for the child when it comes to my neice's medical needs. My brother takes her to the dentist, dr, pays for prescriptions, etc. I'm not in his favor; not against her...I'm FOR my neice. And quite frankly, I think this is a case of her mother trying to 'fudge' numbers to come close to the amount of what she originally 'offered' my brother of $400/month, without the worksheet. Yes, I have seen the entire worksheet. I have one of my own too! My daughter has had two major surgeries last year alone and we didn't fork out that much $ in her out of pocket costs. That's why he questioned...where could this amount come from? (and it was annually, but he can't remember the last time she even paid for a prescription in 2 years of separation)

As I stated, he mentioned to her that he would like an explanation, not to be argumentative (b/c lets face it, they actually AGREE on everything, why argue over the $ amount), but for simple justification. The very next day, the support worksheet was re-done and the calculation added up much differently. Still no justification, but he might not ever get one at this point. Papers are signed and being filed this week. Sad situation all the way around, but it will be a huge relief when papers are signed by the judge. I'll never understand how people go months, years, etc. without a court order to handle the care of children who are subject to divorce or unmarried parents. It's so much easier when you have a court order to fall back on, should the parties not agree!!

Thank you again, I love this site. I usually just lurk and read, but it's nice to know there's a place where I can receive accurate legal advice, from BOTH sides of the issue should I need it. On a totally separate note, thanks to this site, I have actually learned how not to over-step my place when it comes to my stepdaughter and my personal situation. All in all, I value everyone's opinions here and will continue learning!

 

[kik1999]

If she has a dependent care account for medical, then I think that what the employer provides is a high deductible policy, and the dependent care account is to cover the high deductible. This is becoming more and more common. For a family of 3, 3300.00 would be a fairly low amount to go into an HSA, so it may not be the entire amount.

He needs to require her to provide full disclosure/documentation on this. The employer may be contributing something to the HSA and only the applicable amount for their child should be included in the CS calculation.

LdiJ, the amount would actually be for a family of 2...not that it makes much difference, but she has dropped him completely from her insurance. I believe she did this 2 years ago when they separated. One of the issues he was going to bring up, was the fact that his company does not offer medical insurance and he was going to have to purchase a separate/individual policy. From what I understand (and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong), she isn't actually able to 'drop' him, b/c their separation was not a legal separation and he did not have another provider available to him via his employer. However, to finally get things over with, he didn't raise the issue. If he had the $, he might have persued this avenue as he has health issues of his own. However, all he is concerned about is the custody of my neice. Which he is finally getting!!

Any amount in the HSA would have been used for HER expenses medically, not their daughter's. She has provided the insurance for their daughter, but he has paid almost all out of pocket expenses for the last two years.

 

[Ohiogal]

LdiJ, the amount would actually be for a family of 2...not that it makes much difference, but she has dropped him completely from her insurance. I believe she did this 2 years ago when they separated. One of the issues he was going to bring up, was the fact that his company does not offer medical insurance and he was going to have to purchase a separate/individual policy. From what I understand (and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong), she isn't actually able to 'drop' him, b/c their separation was not a legal separation and he did not have another provider available to him via his employer. However, to finally get things over with, he didn't raise the issue. If he had the $, he might have persued this avenue as he has health issues of his own. However, all he is concerned about is the custody of my neice. Which he is finally getting!!

Any amount in the HSA would have been used for HER expenses medically, not their daughter's. She has provided the insurance for their daughter, but he has paid almost all out of pocket expenses for the last two years.

She would not have been allowed to drop him if divorce papers had been filed but there is NO law in Ohio stating that a husband/wife HAS to provide health insurance for a spouse. And $3300 a year for health insurance is NOT a lot of money to insure a child.

 

[kik1999]

The $3300 was OUT OF POCKET expenses, not insurance expenses for their child. And he was told by a family law attorney that he had initially hired prior to him going pro se, that had he incurred medical expenses while they were still married, and she had dropped him without him having any insurance available to him via his employment, that she would have had to pay what HER insurance would have covered. Nowhere did I state that I thought it was a law that a spouse had to provide insurance. It's a moot point.