Blast From The Past: Fathers are Indeed Important!

Blast from the past 13 years Ohio Family Law Blog

PUBLISHER’S UPDATE – Blog Originally Published on January 16, 2010: It is time for another “BLAST FROM THE PAST!” After Court recently, my client thanked me and reminded me about writing this Blog about his case seven and a half years ago. I was once again representing this father in the same rural Ohio Juvenile Court. The child is now 13+ and about to start the 8th grade but really wanted to move out of Ohio to live primarily with Dad and his family and attend school in North Carolina.  Dad’s perseverance once again paid off!  After a very strong guardians report, the parties agreed to a 1 year trial period for their child to move to the Tar Heel State.  This child is indeed blessed to have 2 excellent, loving, and caring parents willing to try to do what is in the child’s best interest! Good parenting by Dad and all his love and his fortitude did once again pay off!

fathers importantA large body of research overwhelmingly suggests children do best when they have both a mother and a father involved in their lives. Specifically, children whose fathers participate in raising them do better in school, are less likely … Read More... “Blast From The Past: Fathers are Indeed Important!”

Holiday Parenting Time Post-Decree Divorce

holiday parenting time divorceMost intact families have established holiday traditions for their family. After a divorce, this may all change. The courts generally have established standard orders for parenting time that many people have adopted. Each varies county by county.  However, those orders can be modified by agreement. The standard order is basically a default arrangement utilized when parents have difficulty agreeing with one another.  It is NOT intended to be the ‘perfect” parenting order in all cases.

What Does A Holiday Parenting Time Standard Order Look Like In Montgomery County, Ohio Divorce Court?

Under the standard order in divorce court, holiday parenting time in Montgomery County, Ohio looks like this:

HOLIDAYS:

The non-residential parent shall have the children on the holidays in Column 1 in odd-numbered years and the holidays in Column 2 in the even-numbered years. The residential parent shall have the children on the holidays in Column 1 in even-numbered years and the holidays in Column 2 in odd-numbered years.

Column 1 Column 2
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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Parenting Time: The “New” Standard Order of Parenting Time for Montgomery County, Ohio

What Are The New Changes In The Standard Order of Parenting Time Regarding Mother’s Day And Father’s Day?

standard order of parenting time father's dayOn September 3, 2011, I posted an article on the Ohio Family Law Blog about the “New” and “Improved” Montgomery County Standard Order of Visitation. At that time, the major change was in the way Summer Parenting Time was to be exercised. The Court decided that Fathers should have alternate weeks of visitation during the summer rather than being limited to just five weeks or thirty-five (35) days of visitation. Some Fathers have elected to take advantage of this change in the Standard Order of Parenting Time and some Fathers, because of work schedules and other factors, have simply chosen to stay with the four (4) to five (5) weeks of visitation during the summer vacation period.

On February 1, 2016, the Domestic Relations Court of Montgomery County, Ohio issued a “new” Standard Order of Parenting Time with the major difference being in the way that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are addressed. I shall present to you the exact changes in this provision and the rationale for same:

7/01/2011: Standard Order of Parenting Time regarding Mother’s Day and Father’s Day:… Read More... “Parenting Time: The “New” Standard Order of Parenting Time for Montgomery County, Ohio”

Parenting Time and Child Support In Ohio, The New Initiative

New Parenting Time and Child Support Project in Ohio To Increase Time A Child Spends With Both Parents, Even If They Are Divorced or Separated

parenting timeI have been practicing family law for 34 years. In my opinion the process by which the State of Ohio has gone about establishing child support orders in Juvenile Court without including any parenting or visitation provisions was patently unfair to fathers. I appreciate that taxpayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burdens of paying welfare or other assistance for children when it is the joint legal responsibility for their mothers and fathers to do so. But is it fair to establish a child support obligation and not include any reciprocal provision for the fathers to have the right to visit their child(ren)? It is no wonder that there are so many uninvolved fathers out there. Psychologists will tell you that a child who has had both parents involved in his/her upbringing stands a much better chance to become a stable healthy adult. That is why I am very excited about this new, long overdue Ohio project!

Ohio’s New PTOC12 Project

This new statewide project in Ohio will try to increase the time a child spends … Read More... “Parenting Time and Child Support In Ohio, The New Initiative”

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