In Ohio, child support awards are based on many different factors, and will vary according to the unique circumstances of each particular parent/family. However, once a court orders one parent to make child support payments, they must typically be paid until the child reaches the age of majority, generally somewhere between their 18th and 21st birthday.

It is never appropriate for one parent to simply ignore a child support award or modify it on their own, even if the ability of that parent to pay is extremely limited. In fact, if a parent feels that a modification is necessary, the court will have to make the ultimate determination based on the facts of the case.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently decided a very interesting child support case that began back in 2008. Here, a Summit County father stopped making his court-ordered child support payments for a year, accumulating arrears of $12,000 in the process. Instead, he only give his daughter two relatively small gifts -- some cash and a gift card -- totaling $185.

Here, he tried to argue that these gifts amounted to child support when his ex-wife's new husband attempted to adopt his daughter. The high court ultimately disagreed, holding that these gifts were not child support as they were not court-ordered and that the father's consent for the adoption was not required.

This ruling is important for Ohio parents -- not only for those who hope to collect back child support -- but because of the child custody issues that may arise when others, such as a step-parent, want to establish parental rights.

Source: wksu.org, "Supreme Court says small gifts don't equal child support," Jan. 25, 2012