All courts in Ohio may soon be able to extend child support orders for parents and guardians of adult children in certain instances, if their children have disabilities and cannot support themselves.
Reps. Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake), who are jointly sponsoring House Bill 338, have argued it creates parity in divorce cases regardless of the disabled person’s age at the time of their parents’ divorce.
The bipartisan proposal got a unanimous vote in the Ohio Senate on Wednesday, after passing the House with only four ‘no’ votes in May. Sens. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario) and Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) were behind the Senate’s version of the bill, Senate Bill 176, that cleared the chamber in June. It only pertains to Ohio parents whose children became disabled as minors.
“Currently, because of an arbitrary inconsistency in the law, some of Ohio’s most vulnerable families are not receiving the critical care and support they need,” Sweeney wrote in a Wednesday news release. “This legislation will ensure family courts can act with fairness and consistency to ensure all families have access to the appropriate family support.”
It does not change the calculations or determinations behind whether assistance is awarded.
Amy Roehrenbeck, executive director of the Ohio Child Support Professionals Association, testified during a June committee hearing that family practice lawyers are seeing more divorces later in marriage.
“Often when their children are now adults,” Roehrenbeck said. “As a result, there are cases where a disabled child is now beyond the age of 18 when their parents divorce, but otherwise meets the qualifications to be deemed a Castle child.”
The definition of a Castle child came from a 1984 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that child support obligations go beyond age 18 for disabled adults who cannot support themselves. HB 338 deals with timing of the divorce, not the disability’s onset.
If the House agrees to some small, unrelated revisions by the Senate, the bill will then head to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.
