When you are going through a divorce as a parent, you likely are most concerned about two things: how your divorce will impact your children and how divorce will impact your finances. If your spouse makes a significant income, you may be worried about how you will support yourself and your children after divorce. Will you still be able to pay for your kids to participate in traveling sports? How will you pay for college?
Child support in Ohio
In Ohio, child support levels are determined by both parents’ gross combined income. If you and your spouse will share custody of your children, you still may receive child support, especially if your spouse earns significantly more than you do. The court also may alter child support levels based upon what your children’s standard of living has been and would be if you had remained married.
You may want to come to an agreement with your spouse about how you both will pay for your children’s extracurricular activities in the divorce settlement. Many parents split these costs and each pay half. You also may want to agree on how you will pay for college for your children, especially if they are in high school. As part of that agreement, your spouse may want to cap the amount they will pay or only pay what tuition to a state university would cost (no matter where your child goes to school).
Spousal support
If you have been a stay-at-home parent, you may need to re-enter the workforce to maintain your current lifestyle after divorce. You may qualify for spousal support if you’ve been married a long time and your spouse makes significantly more than you do. You could use your spousal support to pay for additional job training or for you to go back to school to get a better job.
Ultimately, you may need to make some lifestyle changes after your divorce. You may need to move to a smaller, less expensive home or learn to live on less. With a divorce attorney’s help, you can get a better picture of what your divorce settlement may be so you can plan better for your post-divorce life.
