Ohio Code 3115.602 – Procedure to register order for enforcement
(A) Except as otherwise provided in section 3115.706 of the Revised Code, a support order or income-withholding order of another state or a foreign support order may be registered in this state by sending the following records to the appropriate tribunal in this state:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3115.602
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Foreign support order: means a support order of a foreign tribunal. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Income: includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support under the law of this state. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Income-withholding order: means an order or other legal process directed to an obligor's employer or other payor, in accordance with Chapter 3121 of the Revised Code, to withhold support from the income of the obligor. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Obligee: means any of the following:
(1) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been issued;
(2) A foreign country, state, or political subdivision of a state to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or that has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support;
(3) An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual's child;
(4) A person that is a creditor in a proceeding under sections 3115. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, to whom or to which any of the following applies:
(1) The individual or estate owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Registering tribunal: means a tribunal in which a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See Ohio Code 3115.102
- Tribunal: means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Ohio Code 3115.102
(1) A letter of transmittal to the tribunal requesting registration and enforcement;
(2) Two copies, including one certified copy, of the order to be registered, including any modification of the order;
(3) A sworn statement by the person requesting registration or a certified statement by the custodian of the records showing the amount of any arrearage;
(4) The name of the obligor and, if known, all of the following:
(a) The obligor’s address and social security number;
(b) The name and address of the obligor’s employer or other payor and any other source of income of the obligor;
(c) A description and the location of property of the obligor in this state not exempt from execution.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in section 3115.312 of the Revised Code, the name and address of the obligee and, if applicable, the person to whom support payments are to be remitted.
(B) On receipt of a request for registration, the registering tribunal shall cause the order to be filed as an order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign support order, together with one copy of the documents and information, regardless of their form.
(C) A petition or comparable pleading seeking a remedy that must be affirmatively sought under other law of this state may be filed at the same time as the request for registration or later. The pleading must specify the grounds for the remedy sought.
(D) If two or more orders are in effect, the person requesting registration shall do all of the following:
(1) Furnish to the tribunal a copy of every support order asserted to be in effect in addition to the documents specified in this section;
(2) Specify the order alleged to be the controlling order, if any; and
(3) Specify the amount of consolidated arrears, if any.
(E) A request for a determination of which is the controlling order may be filed separately or with a request for registration and enforcement or for registration and modification. The person requesting registration shall give notice of the request to each party whose rights may be affected by the determination.