Child Custody

Temporary Orders Affidavits

August 16, 2008

What is the difference between temporary orders and temporary restraining orders?

Temporary Restraining Orders

In family law, sometimes temporary restraining orders are made at the beginning of the case. These orders are general orders and usually are not specific to the facts of a certain case. In custody cases between parents who were not married, they are usually limited to an order that the minor child cannot be permanently removed from the state of Ohio. In divorce cases, temporary restraining orders require that the other party refrain from harassing you at work or at home, selling, hiding or giving away assets, incurring debt in your name, changing beneficiaries of life insurance, canceling health insurance and taking the minor child and permanently leaving the state.

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Temporary Orders

In an Ohio divorce or custody cases, Temporary Orders are orders which the court issues to establish how the parties are going to operate while their case is pending.Temporary orders are VERY important because even though they are temporary, they often set a precedent that determines how the case is going to turn out at trial.For this reason, it is very important that for both parties and witnesses giving affidavits in support of temporary orders to do their best job of collecting and presenting information in support of the position they are supporting in their temporary orders affidavit.

If you want to learn more about Temporary Orders in Ohio divorce, custody and visitation cases, you may be interested in purchasing a copy of Virginia Cornwell’s ebook on Temporary Orders in Ohio Divorce and Custody Cases. You can click the e-book photo on the left or click the icon in the sidebar on any page that looks like this ->

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Here are some examples of forms affidavits that Ohio counties use. Please note the first link, from the Supreme Court of Ohio can be used in divorce and legal separation cases in any county in Ohio, although the county may require their own form IN ADDITION to the Supreme Court’s form. These forms contain SOME of the relevant information the court needs. Courts change their web sites from time to time, so if the link that you try does not work, try another one. In addition, you may have to copy and paste the link into your browser if it does not work the first time you try it. There is also a form affidavit for temporary orders available from the Supreme Court of Ohio Web Site that can be used in any Ohio County – for divorce or legal separation cases only.

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/CFC/DRForms/

http://www.perfectprobate.com/pdf/hamiltondomesticrelations/2456.pdf

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We have never yet seen a form which contains all of the information which should be submitted with temporary orders affidavits. Especially when there are children involved, it is nearly impossible to create the perfect form for temporary orders affidavits. This means that in addition to whatever local forms a county uses for temporary orders affidavits (if any ), the party to the litigation also needs to submit narrative affidavits and/or give testimony at a hearing, depending on the local court’s preferred procedure.

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DISCLAIMER

SHARED PARENTING IN OHIO

July 21, 2008

A Columbus Ohio Shared Parenting Attorney article about shared parenting in Ohio.

Shared Parenting – what is that? Shared parenting does not have a single definition. For the legal definition, click here to view a page containing questions and answers about shared parenting in Ohio. For the statutory definition, you can find it in this statute.

For the real world definition of shared parenting, shared parenting is what you make of it. Shared parenting works as well or as poorly as the parents are willing to make it work. I know, I know, you’ve probably read a lot of touchy – feely articles about shared parenting designed to make you just burst into song. Just hang on for a few more minutes – I promise to make it worth your time.

When a couple splits up, their children almost always want them to get back together. Once they realize that can’t happen, the children just want their parents to get along. No matter how much the other parent gets on your nerves – you are stuck with them. They will always be the parent of your child. If you are going to have the legal right to have shared parenting of your child, you are going to have to work to minimize conflicts with the other parent.

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There are websites designed to minimize conflicts and maximize accountability. One such site is called Our Family Wizard. Click here to look at Our Family Wizard. The page I linked to lists some of the things people most commonly fight over in both shared parenting and sole custody cases. Currently, the site costs about $100 a year. Unfortunately, it has been our experience that families that co-parent well don’t really need the site, and families that are struggling with shared parenting don’t want that level of accountability. Although the expense of the site is often given as the reason not to use the site, but a whole year of membership is cheaper than one hour of a lawyer’s time. This site, and similar sites, allow a non-confrontational medium for exchanging schedules, documents, contact information, etc. It is my understanding that the site tracks communications between the parties, document and receipt exhange, etc. No more arguing about who told whom what, and when – it’s all right there preserved in perpetuity. This is a tool that takes he said/she said out of the equation. This has the effect of encouraging everyone to be on their best behavior. It’s something to think about.

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Another often overlooked resource for shared parenting is mediation. To read our post about mediation, click here.

The bottom line is that shared parenting is not about a title, it is not about ownership, and it is not about child support. Shared parenting is about co-parenting. This means treating the other parent as an important part of your child’s life.

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Unfortunately, some parents are or become unwilling to co-parent. When that happens, you have five choices:

Ignore the problem
Try to work out the problems with the other parent through discussion, mediation or perhaps even counselling (if both parties are willing)
Return to court to enforce the shared parenting plan that you have (contempt of court ),
Return to court to modify the shared parenting plan that you have
Return to court to terminate shared parenting.

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Once shared parenting is put in place, Ohio courts are generally in favor of maintaining shared parenting if at all possible. If shared parenting is to be substantially changed, (either to terminate shared parenting or to change the school placement parent), Ohio courts must first find that there has been a change in circumstances.

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If the court finds that there has been a change in circumstances since the time of the last parenting decree, in order to terminate shared parenting or change the school placement parent, a court must ALSO find that the benefit of the change outweighs the detriment of the change. For example, if the court is going to change the school placement parent and make the child change schools, then the court will first want to know that the benefit of changing the child’s school is going to outweigh the distress of changing schools.

Shared parenting used to be much more difficult for fathers who were not married to the mother of their child to obtain. Courts are progressively moving toward the idea that a fit parent has a right to be fully involved in their child’s life.

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For additional important information about establishing paternity in Ohio please visit the web page for Ohio Paternity Enhancement by clicking here.

For more information about MOTHER’S RIGHTS, see our page regarding MOTHER’S RIGHTS IN OHIO.

For more information about GRANDPARENT RIGHTS see our page regarding GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS IN OHIO.

For more information about obtaining CUSTODY, SHARED PARENTING, OR VISITATION in Ohio, see our post about OHIO CUSTODY.

For more information about DNA testing, see our post regarding DNA TESTING.

For more information about SHARED PARENTING, see our post regarding SHARED PARENTING IN OHIO.

For more information about the rights of UNMARRIED PARENTS OR NEVER MARRIED PARENTS, see our post regarding UNMARRIED PARENTS IN OHIO.

For more information about DISSOLUTION, see our page regarding DISSOLUTION IN OHIO.

For more information about DIVORCE, see our page regarding DIVORCE IN OHIO.

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DISCLAIMER

Can I just sign away my rights to my child?

July 17, 2008

A Columbus Family Law Attorney article about signing away your rights to your child.

In Ohio, usually when people ask this question, what they mean is – if I agree not to be a part of my child’s life will I have to pay child support? In Ohio, visitation, or parenting time, is a privilege, not a right. Support, on the other hand, is an obligation. Both visitation and child support are modifiable until the child reaches majority, or until the parent’s rights are terminated by either an adoption or a children’s services type of proceeding terminating parental rights. Another way of putting it is this – if a person wants to walk away from their child, a court may agree that it is in the child’s best interest not to have contact with that parent, but that does not relieve the parent from the obligation to support their child. Nothing but a termination of parental rights via adoption or children’s services case will eliminate the possibility that a zero child support order may be modified in the future.

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Until recently, Ohio courts generally held that child support was not modifiable retroactively. In some situations where a parent has failed to pay child support for years and had an enormous child support arrearage, the parent with the child support arrearage sometimes would offer to “sign away their rights” if the custodial parent would agree to “get rid of” the child support arrearage. Sometimes this offer was attractive to the custodial parent, but Ohio courts maintained that the Ohio Revised Code does not allow retroactive modification of child support. On December 11, 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court, in the case Byrd v. Knuckles, decided that a court MAY, but is NOT REQUIRED TO, accept an agreement of the parents to terminate a child support arrearage. To learn more about the Byrd v. Knuckles case and retroactive modification of child support, click here.

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DISCLAIMER

Can I just get a packet of free divorce, dissolution, visitation or custody forms? Do I need a lawyer?

July 16, 2008

Many times people find themselves asking these questions. At a minimum, you need to do some research. Now that the internet has become an integral part of our lives, there is information available to a regular joe that we never had access to before. Look around on the internet, get some information, and then ask yourself this question- If I’m wrong about this, can I live with the consequences?

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Hindsight is always 20/20, but generally, the law expects us to live with the consequences of the agreements we make, for better or for worse. Many times people sign forms from divorce or custody “packets” without the advice of a lawyer, reasoning that they can always go back to court later if they need to. Unfortunately, people are sometimes shocked to find that they gave their ex-spouse or significant other sole custody of the children when they thought they were receiving shared parenting. In the law, the WRITTEN words matter. In addition, the law places the burden of understanding the legal meaning of the documents on the person who signs them. The more you have to lose, the less you can afford to take chances.

You are rarely required to have a lawyer. Generally, you are free to represent yourself in court. In addition, you don’t always need a lawyer. There are many things in family law that you can do without a lawyer. For example, you do not need a lawyer to get a marriage license. Most of the time, you do not need a lawyer to change your name. You don’t need a lawyer to file for a protection order if you are a victim of domestic violence. Many people are able to handle their legal matter to their satisfaction without an attorney.

If you are not sure if you need an attorney, consider arranging a consultation. Remember, a consultation does not mean that you are agreeing to hire a lawyer. It means that you are paying for a block of an attorney‘s time in order to ask questions and receive information about the law. Some attorneys offer free consultations, many do not. What is most important is the quality of information you receive during your consultation. A consultation is not simply an “audition” for the lawyer. You are entitled to receive information and answers during that consultation, even if you cannot afford to hire a lawyer. The information you receive during this consultation will help you make some very important decisions.

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Your time is valuable. If you are going to take the time to meet with an attorney, you want to get all you can from that time. Make a list of questions you would like to ask or topics you would like to discuss. Take the time to take notes. If you have previous court or administrative orders that in any way might relate to your case, bring a copy with you to the consultation. Otherwise, the advice you receive may be useless because the attorney was not able to review your current court orders. If you don’t have a copy of your court order, you can get one from the clerk of court in the county in which your orders were issued, or from the agency that issued the orders. You will be receiving a lot of information in a short period of time, and you want to remember it all.