How to lower child support in Ohio

The Ohio test, in plain words

Threshold: Recalculated amount more than 10% greater or more than 10% less than existing amount shall be considered a change of circumstance substantial enough to require modification (ORC §3119.79(A); also §3119.79(C))

Ohio's current §3119.021 does not print a dollar table — it fixes a bracket formula (a base percentage of the bracket floor plus a marginal percentage on the excess), and the checker runs that formula. The agency (CSEA) review uses the same more-than-10% line, and the CSEA may not deviate from the guideline calculation.

Agency route: Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) — Administrative review. Court route: Court of common pleas / domestic relations / juvenile (per county) — Court motion under §3119.79 — court shall recalculate through the worksheet's actual-annual-obligation line

One trap to know: No opt-out found; 10% recalculation test applies regardless of prior agreement (case law confirms it overrides a prior deviation agreement) — REPRINT-CORROBORATED per sizing (ORC §3119.79(A))

Exactness: Computed from the §3119.021 bracket formula when both parents' gross incomes are documented.

Run the Ohio checker

Your stateTexasCaliforniaFloridaNew YorkIllinoisOhioAnother state

What you pay now ($ / month)

Children in this case123456

Months since the order was made or last changed

Texas

Your monthly net resources ($)Net resources as Texas defines them (Tex. Fam. Code §154.062). The $11,700 monthly cap is applied for you.

Children you support in other households01234567Uses the §154.129 multiple-family adjusted percentages.

California — ESTIMATE only, permanently

Your monthly net disposable income ($)

Other parent's monthly net disposable income ($)

Your timeshare (%)

California's formula (Fam. Code §4055) turns on actual tax liability and approximate timeshare, so no California figure on this site is ever labeled exact.

Florida

Combined monthly net income, both parents ($)

Your monthly net income ($)

Your overnights per yearAt 73 or more overnights, the §61.30(11)(b) adjustment is mandatory and is applied.

New York

Combined parental income ($ / year)

Your gross income ($ / year)

Mandatory add-ons ($ / year: health insurance, unreimbursed medical, childcare)

Change in either parent's gross income since the order (%)

The basic obligation below the $193,000 combined cap is computed. The payable amount is always labeled ESTIMATE — add-ons and above-cap discretion sit on top.

Illinois

Your monthly gross income ($)Converted with the 2026 HFS gross-to-net table (effective 2026-03-20).

Other parent's monthly gross income ($)

Your overnights per yearAt 146 overnights each, the §505(a)(3.8) shared-care formula applies and is used.

Ohio

Combined gross income, both parents ($ / year)Run through the §3119.021 bracket formula.

Your gross income ($ / year)

Run my state's test

Track B — the evidence checklist (never scored)

• Substantial change not contemplated at the time of the last order (§3119.79(C))
• For early CSEA review: evidence of an OAC 5101:12-60-05.1(E) ground (layoff >=30 days documentation, WARN notice, SSA/physician disability determination, incarceration >180 days, 30% income drop >=6 months)
• Termination letter / unemployment filing / final pay stub
• Before/after pay stubs and employer letter
• Overnight log — 12-month calendar
• Health-insurance / cash medical premium statements

Sources

• OH court modification — ORC §3119.79(A), (C)
• OH agency review — OAC 5101:12-60-05(D)(1), (C), (H) — codes.ohio.gov, current through 2024-12-11 update, pulled 2026-10-27
• OH review initiation / early grounds — OAC 5101:12-60-05.1(D)-(E), effective 2025-04-01
• OH guideline / worksheet — ORC §§3119.021, 3119.022, 3119.023; §§3119.22-3119.23 deviation

Rules checked October 2026.