Gary's Blog

August 20, 2014

Family Law – Determining Child Support

What is Included in Gross Income for Purposes of Determining Child Support In Ohio, child support is calculated pursuant to a statutory scheme which is found in Ohio Revised Code 3119.01. Under Ohio Law, child support is generally based upon the gross income of both the payor (the parent paying child support) and the gross income of the payee (the […]
August 1, 2014

Possible Clarity Coming for Same-Sex Divorce in Columbus

August 6, 2014, could be a significant day for legal issues regarding gay marriage and divorce in Ohio. Oral arguments in several appellate cases relating to same-sex marriage will be heard by United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on that date, possibly resulting in new precedent for Ohio courts to consider in matters of same-sex divorce. Gay […]
July 28, 2014

Custody litigation in more than one state

The trial of a custody case is a very complex and emotionally challenging time during a divorce. The complexity of a custody case becomes even more difficult when the issue is not only which parent is going to obtain custody but also which State is going to make the determination regarding the custody of a child. Having been a family […]
July 17, 2014

Filing Fees for Divorce in Columbus

Couples divorcing in Ohio should expect to pay near the national average with respect to their filing fees paid to the clerk of court at the onset of their case. Filing fees in Ohio are $175 – more than the national low of $52 in Mississippi, but substantially less than the national high of $409 in Florida. Check out the […]
July 16, 2014

Use of Cell Phones in Domestic Cases

For attorney’s involved in domestic relations, the question always comes up regarding the use of cell phone records in a domestic case. Recently Stephanie Beougher reported on July 15, 2014 in the Ohio Supreme Court News about the US Supreme Court case of Riley v California. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that police need a warrant to search […]
July 3, 2014

Divorce and Stepchildren

A Recent Tax Court Decision Provides Another Tax Consideration for Columbus Family Law Firms Taxes are a common issue that divorcing parents in Columbus confront when terminating their marriage. Perhaps the most frequently disputed tax issue for parents is which parent will be able to claim the dependency exemption for a child of the marriage. Ohio Revised Code 3119.82 requires […]
June 30, 2014

Contraception Mandate

The Huffington Post reported today that the Supreme Court in the case of Burwell v Hobby Lobby in a divided opinion ruled 5-4 on Monday that closely held corporations cannot be required to provide contraception coverage for their employees. In an opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the court ruled in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties […]
June 19, 2014

Teen’s Constitutional Rights Not Violated by Excluding Her from Custody Hearing

Teen’s Constitutional Rights Not Violated by Excluding Her from Custody Hearing. In the case of In Re A.G slip opinion the Ohio Supreme Court according to an article by Bret Crow found that: A trial court did not violate a teenager’s due-process rights or abuse its discretion when it excluded her from a custody hearing in a divorce case, especially after considering […]
March 27, 2014

Unvested Military Retirement Benefits earned during marriage qualify as marital asset

By Kathleen Maloney | March 26, 2014 Daniel v. Daniel (Slip Opinion) 2012-2113[Full Text – PDF] The Ohio Supreme Court on March 26, 2014 in a 4-3 Decision found that unvested military pensions must be taken into account when dividing marital assets. The Supreme Court of Ohio in it’s announcement stated: A trial court must take the value of unvested […]
March 20, 2014

Hague Convention Creates ‘Automatic Return’

In a 9-0 decision on March 5, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez, 572 U.S. __ (2014). Writing for the unanimous Court, Justice Thomas framed the case and holding this way: “When a parent abducts a child and flees to another country, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction generally requires that […]
February 3, 2014

IRS releases FAQs and Answers on Same-Sex Tax Issues

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released new guidelines on how it will treat, for tax purposes, same-sex partners. The most relevant questions are: Q1. When are individuals of the same sex lawfully married for federal tax purposes? A1. For federal tax purposes, the IRS looks to state or foreign law to determine whether individuals are married. The IRS has […]
December 30, 2013

Revised Division of Property Order for State Agencies (OPERS, STRS, SERS, OP&F, and OHPRS)

The Ohio retirement systems recently amended their respective administrative rules to account for revisions to the Division of Property Order (“DPO”) form. The rule amendments and the revised DPO form will be effective January 7, 2014. Note that the Ohio retirement systems will accept and process the “new” and “old” versions of the DPO form until June 30, 2014, but […]
December 30, 2013

Decision on Same-Sex Marriages in Ohio

On December 23, 2013 the United States District Court for the Western Division of Ohio in the case of Obergefell v Wymyslo Case No 1:13-cv-501 Ohio declared that Article XV Sec 11 and Ohio Revised Code 3101.01(C) are unconstitutional in that these sections of Ohio law violated the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court found that same […]
December 21, 2013

New Change in Adoption Law in Ohio: Greater Access to Records

The following article recently appeared in the Columbus Dispatch regarding changes to Ohio’s Adoption Law: COLUMBUS, Ohio — With a stroke of the pen Thursday, the state moved to open the birth records of hundreds of thousands of adopted Ohioans. Gov. John Kasich signed into law a bill that ultimately will allow adoptees, when they reach adulthood, to gain access […]
December 8, 2013

Bankruptcy and Divorce

The United States District Court (Sixth Circuit) recently affirmed a decision wherein the Trustee in the Wife’s bankruptcy sought to set aside a property division the parties divorce case. The case is In re Karen E. NEAL, Debtor, Andrew W. Suhar, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.Craig Bruno, Defendant–Appellee. Case No. 12–4206. FACTS: Chapter 7 trustee brought adversary proceeding to set aside, on constructive fraudulent […]
December 2, 2013

Hague Convention and Equitable Tolling: A Matter for the Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court will hear Oral Arguments on a Hague Convention Case on December 11, 2013. The case is Lozano v. Alvarez Docket No., 12-820. The issue presented by the Lozano case as detailed in an ABA article on the case are as follows: QUESTION PRESENTED: The primary purpose of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of […]
November 25, 2013

Grandparents’ Rights – Fourth District Opinion Sets a Standard

The Fourth District Court of Appeals recently issued a very interesting decision regarding the standard that must be met in order for the Court to award companionship rights (visitation) to non-parents, which by definition includes persons such as grandparent and other family members. In the case of McClintock vs. Gould, Case No 12CA23 [PDF], (November 6, 2013) the Fourth District […]
November 19, 2013

In Reversing Sale, Trial Court Overstepped Its Authority

The Fifth District recently issued an interesting decision on financial misconduct. The case is Shalash v Shalash, 2013-Ohio-5064 [PDF]. In that case, the husband purchased a carryout for $200,000.00 during the marriage. A few days after the divorce was filed the husband transferred the business to his Mother for $55,000.00. The Trial Court found that the carryout was a marital […]
October 16, 2013

Employer Benefits Count for Income in Calculating Child Support

Recently the Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision regarding the calculation of child support and concluded that employer benefits can be considered as income for child support purposes. The case is Morrow v Becker. The following is an excerpt of the decision as reported by Kathleen Maloney. By Kathleen Maloney | October 16, 2013 Certain employer-paid benefits may be included […]
September 19, 2013

Social Security Offset In Divorce and Dissolution Matters

Recently I read an article which was published in QdroDesk.com. The article addresses the valuation of Social Security and It’s divisibility in a divorce case. In light of Ohio Revised Code 3105. 171(F)(9) which allows a Court in deciding the equitable division of retirement benefits to take into consideration social security benefits for purposes of dividing a public pension. I […]