Enforcing a Custody, Parenting Time, or Support Order in Ohio

Contempt in Ohio

Disobeying a lawful order or judgment of a court may be punished as contempt (R.C. 2705.02(A)). Two kinds of family contempt actions are named in R.C. 2705.031(B):

• Support. Any party with a legal claim to support ordered for a child, spouse, or former spouse may start a contempt action for failure to pay. In Title IV-D cases, the prosecuting attorney or an attorney for the agency may also start one.
• Parenting time and visitation. A parent granted parenting time under R.C. 3109.051 or 3109.12, a person granted visitation, or any other person subject to the order may start a contempt action for a failure to comply with, or interference with, the order.

The uniform contempt forms

1. Form 24 (Juvenile Form 3), Motion for Contempt, Affidavit, and Instructions for Service (amended September 21, 2020). You check what was violated, such as interference with parenting time, unpaid child or spousal support (with a printout from the county child support enforcement agency showing the arrearage), or unpaid health care expenses (with an Explanation of Health Care Bills, Form 29 (Juvenile Form 8)), and sign the oath before a notary public. Page 4 gives the clerk instructions for serving it.
2. Form 25 (Juvenile Form 4), Show Cause Order and Notice (amended September 21, 2020). Form 24’s instructions say a proposed Show Cause Order and Notice must be filed with the motion. The court completes the hearing date.

The summons and order to appear must tell the accused party that failure to appear may result in an order of arrest, that the party has a right to counsel and, if indigent, must apply for a public defender or appointed counsel within three business days after receiving the summons, and the potential penalties (R.C. 2705.031(C)).

What the court can do

• A hearing first. In all contempt proceedings the court must hold a hearing and hear the accused’s answer and testimony (R.C. 2705.05(A)).
• Penalties. For a first offense, a fine of not more than $250, a definite jail term of not more than 30 days, or both; for a second offense, not more than $500, 60 days, or both; for a third or later offense, not more than $1,000, 90 days, or both (R.C. 2705.05(A)).
• Costs and fees for parenting time contempt. If anyone is found in contempt for failing to comply with or interfering with a parenting time or visitation order, the court, in addition to any other penalty, must assess all court costs of the contempt proceeding against that person and require payment of the adverse party’s reasonable attorney’s fees arising from the contempt (R.C. 3109.051(K)).
• Compensatory parenting time. The court may award reasonable compensatory parenting time to the parent whose time was affected, if it is in the child’s best interest, on the same terms as the missed time to the extent possible (R.C. 3109.051(K)).
• Support contempt. A court that finds a parent in contempt for failing to pay support under an order made under R.C. 3105.21 or by a juvenile court, made or modified after the 1985 and 1986 dates those sections specify, must likewise assess costs and the other side’s reasonable attorney’s fees (R.C. 3105.21(C), 2151.23(G)).

A contempt penalty does not erase the obligation to pay support or to follow the parenting time order (R.C. 2705.031(E)).

Repeated denial and custody

Whether the residential parent, or a parent under a shared parenting decree, has continuously and willfully denied the other parent’s court-ordered parenting time is a best interest factor in allocating parental rights (R.C. 3109.04(F)(1)(i)) and in setting parenting time (R.C. 3109.051(D)(13)).

Child support enforcement agencies

According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, its Office of Child Support supervises the state program and local child support enforcement agencies (CSEAs) administer cases in each county, and the CSEA administering an order is responsible for monitoring payment of the obligation.

Primary sources

Rules and forms change. Check the current version at the source before you file.

• R.C. 2705.02, acts of contempt
• R.C. 2705.031, support and parenting time contempt
• R.C. 2705.05, contempt hearing and penalties
• R.C. 3109.051(K), costs, fees, and compensatory time
• R.C. 3105.21(C), support contempt
• ODJFS child support
• Uniform Domestic Relations Form 24 (Juvenile Form 3), Motion for Contempt, Affidavit, and Instructions for Service
• Uniform Domestic Relations Form 25 (Juvenile Form 4), Show Cause Order and Notice
• Uniform Domestic Relations Form 29 (Juvenile Form 8), Explanation of Health Care Bills