Stepparents are Parents too! Stepparent Visitation!
I always like to talk about the connotations associated with the words we use every day. Whether they are positive or negative, the words we use can have a grave impact upon a person’s feelings. One such word that comes to mind is stepmom or stepdad. Generally, feelings associated with the word step anything can result in feelings of negativity. I am sure everyone remembers Cinderella’s EVIL stepmother! Being a stepchild, I understand why those feelings can sometimes arise. Blended families come with many obstacles. However, I also know why they can also be associated with very positive connotations and because of that I thank God every day for blessing me with my stepfather, my dad. In the spirit of Father’s Day, I would like to talk about laws in Ohio that have resulted in stepparent visitation and sometimes even custody!
Visitation and Ohio Law
Ohio has codified within its laws three (3) ways to seek visitation with a minor child. They include the following:
- Ohio Revised Code § 3109.051: “In a divorce, dissolution, legal separation, annulment, or a child support proceeding that involves a child, the Court may grant reasonable companionship or
Financial decisions in a marriage are not always a joint venture; wherein both Husband and Wife cooperate in the decision making. In the first few years of my own marriage, my Husband filed our taxes for us. I would check to ensure he put in all my information, but I never looked to see what numbers he was putting into his part of the tax return. Now that I am an attorney practicing in divorce, I know the detrimental effects that can occur in these situations.
Students at local universities should be more aware of their surroundings while on their school’s campus. Few students are aware that both University of Dayton (UD) and Wright State University have a charge called “Complicit” within their Codes of Conduct. The charge of “complicit” allows the schools to discipline students who have not actually engaged in behavior that violates the Codes, but who have witnessed that behavior in other students.
If you are a recipient of Social Security Income or Social Security Disability Income and you are going through a divorce or dissolution, your first step should be to find an attorney who has a good working knowledge of social security income and social security disability income. Spousal support, child support, and property settlements are often the main issues in any divorce or dissolution. Not only does spousal support, child support and property settlements encompass a great deal of the divorce or dissolution proceeding, but when one receives these things as part of a global settlement or adjudication, and they are also receiving social security income, social security disability income, Medicare, or Medicaid, one can find that what they want and what they get can be often two very different things.
Jurisdiction is a common question in many cases. In Dayton, Ohio, the question arises in divorce or dissolution cases when married parties spend their entire married life as residents of one state; and when the marriage is in decline, one of the parties moves to another state and then seeks to have his/her divorce or dissolution in the state in which the party moved.