Family Law News

In Ohio, Electronic Child Support Payments Rolling Out

Under a new law requiring Ohio parents to receive child support payments electronically, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is converting to electronic payments for parents across the state.

"Electronic payments offer parents the ability to receive their support payments without waiting by the mailbox and without the fear of a lost or stolen check," said Joe Pilat, deputy director, ODJFS Office of Child Support. "Electronic distribution also benefits taxpayers because it will save an estimated $2 million a year through reduced postage and administration costs."

Direct Deposit has been available to Ohio parents for several years. In 2004, ODJFS introduced the e-QuickPay Debit MasterCard program. The electronic disbursement of payments either through Direct Deposit or e-QuickPay, was made mandatory in 2005 within legislation that enacted the state budget. The initial implementation began in the pilot counties of Clermont, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Holmes and Richland, in December.

Parents are being notified in writing of the new requirements. If a parent does not choose a method of disbursement, by default that parent will be enrolled in e-QuickPay.

Each phase represents about 30,000 parents who are currently receiving paper checks. In addition to the pilot counties, participants residing in Butler, Brown, Clinton, Hamilton and Warren counties, are now receiving support payments electronically. Cuyahoga County is currently in the process of converting to electronic disbursement as the notification mailings have begun.

As of March 27, there were 187,295 active e-QuickPay cases and 244,977 cases with Direct Deposit.

Ohio collected nearly $2 billion in child support in state fiscal year 2005. There are more than 1 million child support cases in the state. Ohio has the third largest child support caseload in the nation, but ranks second in total payments and first in payments to non-public assistance cases.

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	Did You Know?
	You may be able to leave your pension to your spouse or child. In general, if you are married, your spouse is entitled to a portion of your pension if you die first. There is some cost to that, however, that usually serves to reduce the monthly retirement payments you would have received if the benefits were to be paid just during your lifetime. If you and your spouse agree, you can waive this survivor benefit protection, and/or sometimes name some other person(s) (such as a child) as your beneficiary. Consult with your family lawyer and review the plan summary carefully to find out your rights and responsibilities in this area.