Emancipation and/or Termination of a Support Order

Medina County CSEA handles the termination of child support orders either judicially or administratively based on the jurisdiction of the existing order. The further in advance the parties know of a reason to terminate the support obligation and advise the CSEA, we can start the appropriate process on your case more expediently. The residential or custodial parent of a child support order is the person who is responsible for notifying the CSEA when there is a reason to terminate a child support order. That being said, the nonresidential or noncustodial parent can contact the CSEA at any time if there is a known legal reason for child support to terminate. The reasons to terminate a child support order include:

• The child has reached eighteen (18) years of age and is no longer attending an accredited high school on a full time basis (unless otherwise stated in the order);
• The child has reached nineteen (19) years of age while still attending an accredited high school on a full time basis (unless otherwise stated in the order);
• The child has reached the age of eighteen (18) years of age and has graduated from an accredited high school;
• The child’s death;
• The child’s marriage;
• The child’s enlistment in the armed services;
• The child’s deportation;
• A change of legal custody of the child;
• The child’s adoption;
• The obligor’s death;
• The grandparent to who support is being paid or a grandparent who is paying support reports that the grandparent’s support order should terminate as a result of one of the events described in division (D) of section 3109.13 of the Ohio Revised Code; or
• Marriage of the obligor under the support order to the obligee, if the obligor and obligee reside together with the child.

Emancipation – The Most Common Reason for Termination of Support

The most common reason to terminate a child support order is due to the emancipation of a child. When a child has reached the age of eighteen (18) years and has either graduated from an accredited high school or is no longer attending an accredited high school on a full time basis OR is nineteen (19) years of age while still attending an accredited high school on a full time basis, that child is considered emancipated.

Court Termination of Child Support 

A majority of child support cases end up going through the court process, even if they didn’t start out there. Cases that started out in the court (Dissolution or Divorce Orders, Juvenile Court Orders) stay in the court. Administrative Orders that started out at the CSEA but were filed with the court by the CSEA for enforcement or by the parties directly also remain within court jurisdiction. The Court Termination process is as follows:

• The Support Officer is notified that a reason exists to terminate the support obligation for a child(ren) (see list above);
• The Support Officer will review the information provided to see if a valid reason per code OAC 5101:12-60-50 exists to terminate the child support obligation of the child(ren);
• After verifying the addresses for the parties on the case, the Support Officer may mail (depending on the reason for the termination) an Advance Notice of Termination to all parties of the case which advises of the agency’s intention to terminate the current child support obligation for a child(ren) and the reason. The letter provides the date of termination and the amount and date that support will be held in escrow for the terminating child(ren). The parties have fourteen (14) days to object;
• After fourteen (14) days if there are no objections, the Investigative Findings & Recommendation to Terminate will be prepared by the CSEA and mailed to all parties of the case to the last known address by regular mail;  The parties have fourteen (14) days to object to the Investigative Findings and Recommendations and request an administrative hearing;
  • If there are no objections, the entry will be submitted to the court of jurisdiction for adoption and filing.
  • If there is an objection, the case will be set for an Administrative Hearing and the parties will be notified of the date/time.  After the hearing is conducted, a Hearing Decision will be issued to all parties of the case.  The parties have fourteen (14) days to object for a court hearing to be scheduled.
    •       Once a Court hearing date is scheduled, all parties to the case will be sent a hearing notice to advise of the date/time of the hearing. It is very important that all parties attend the hearing. If the parties have an issue with the hearing date or time, they need to contact the court. The CSEA cannot reschedule court hearing dates;
• The CSEA will receive a copy of the appealable termination order from the court directly. The child support and medical support will be terminated or adjusted per the court order. 
• If there is an ongoing obligation for remaining child(ren), the CSEA will issue a new withholding order to the payor’s employer to adjust the withholding order accordingly.
• If the last child on the order is terminated and no arrears are owed, a termination of withholding will be issued to the payor’s employer as will a termination of NMSN (if applicable). The money held in escrow will be released to the case and refunded to the payor (if applicable);
• If the last child on the order is terminated and arrears are owed on the case, the court will establish a payment on arrears and escrow money may be ordered by the court to be released to apply to the arrears due. The current child support order and the NMSN will be terminated on the date of emancipation per the court order. A termination of NMSN will be sent to the employer and an amended income withholding will be issued to the employer for collection of arrears only;
• If the last child on the order is terminated, the Support Officer will be notified when the arrears are paid in full and a termination of withholding will be sent to the payor’s employer. If the payor receives several refunded payments from the CSEA, he/she may want to contact the payroll department to see if the termination of withholding was received. The CSEA may have to issue another termination of withholding;
• If the last child on the order is terminated, the child support case will be set for closure in sixty (60 days). This gives both parties time to object to the closure. After sixty (60) days the case will close as there are no minor children and the arrears have been paid in full.

Administrative Termination of Child Support

When a child support order starts out administratively (through the CSEA and not through the courts) and has never been filed in the court for enforcement, the child support order is terminated administratively. The process for Administrative Terminations is as follows:

• The Support Officer is notified that the child will turn eighteen (18) years of age soon;
• The Support Officer will send a request to the child’s high school and/or custodial parent to obtain the child’s graduation status/expected date (the custodial parent has fourteen (14) days to respond);
• The Support Officer will review the information provided by the high school and/or custodial parent and determine the date of emancipation of the child;
• The parties to the case will receive an Investigative Findings & Recommendation from the CSEA advising of the termination date(s), the arrears owed (if any), the set amount to pay back the arrears owed (if any), and processing fees;
• Depending on the amount of arrears owed, if any, the parties may also receive an Administrative Order to Impound Support to avoid an overpayment on the case;
• The parties have fourteen (14) days to object to the Investigative Findings & Recommendations and request an Administrative Hearing;
• If no objections are received within fourteen (14) days, the administrative termination order is issued and mailed to the parties;
• The parties have fourteen (14) days to object to the administrative order by filing an objection in the Medina County Court of jurisdiction (Domestic Relations Court or Juvenile Court).  Failure to object within fourteen (14) days will make the administrative order final.