Father's Rights
Mother's Rights
Visitation Agreements
Custody and Shared Parenting

“Children do best and feel most secure when parents make the child’s physical and emotional welfare a top priority.”

Dr. Al Ravitz, Clinical Psychiatrist New York University Child Study Center 

​The “Good Exchange” Picture a pizza delivery …. pleasant and respectful, all business, short and sweet. Keep it simple. Exchanges are not the time for parents to discuss business with each other. Be courteous. Focus on your child. Discuss business before or after, not during the exchange. Each parent has a detailed parenting schedule, preferably on a calendar, to reduce misunderstanding, and they have compared their schedules. Any change in the time and location of the next exchange is confirmed with the other parent at the current exchange. 

• Domestic Violence & Allocation of Parental Rights and Responsibilities COURT GUIDE
  from the Ohio Supreme Court
• ENHANCED RESOURCE GUIDELINES - Improving Court Practice in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases
  Guidelines for judges from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Planning for Parenting Time/ Parents Living Apart

Hamilton Co. Shared Parenting Schedule

• Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3109.04
  Allocating parental rights and responsibilities for care of children, including provisions for shared parenting
• Oh. Rev. Code Sec.3109.043
  Provision for temporary child custody order while modification hearing is pending.
• Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3109.051
  Provisions for parenting time (visitation rights).
• Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3109.052
  Court mediation of custody disputes.

Parenting Time and Visitation in Ohio

Child Friendly Exchange

Sharing Responsibilities After Separation

In Ohio, if a child is born to an unmarried woman, she is considered by law to be the sole custodial parent. A father has no rights until he establishes paternity and obtains a Court Order granting him custody, shared parenting, or parenting time

Overview

The state of Ohio recognizes fathers' rights which at times may be overlooked by mothers and other custodians. It is important for unmarried fathers to know their rights concerning their children. In order to ensure that these rights are upheld, an unmarried married father may have to go through legal proceedings. Unmarried fathers in Ohio must have a court grant them legal rights to their children.

No Rights Without Court-Order

In Ohio, unmarried fathers have no rights to their children until a court order has been set in place. A court order is needed even after establishing paternity by signing the Acknowledgment of Paternity form or getting a DNA test. Establishing paternity will give the child the rights for medical and child support--it will not guarantee the unwed father visitation or custody. A court order is needed for these in order for visitation and custody agreements to be upheld. Once the court has granted visitation and custody, if the mother withholds the child from visitation, she can be held in contempt of court for disobeying court orders.

Visitation Rights

An unmarried father can be granted visitation rights from the courts. At times, some parents will not be granted visitation or may have restricted visitation due to abuse or neglect, according to Ohio Legal Services. In restricted visitation, the parenting time will be supervised, the parent may have to take parenting classes, the children may not leave the state with the parent and the parent cannot consume any alcohol during visitation periods.

Putative Father Registry

If an unmarried father has not been placed on the birth certificate, he has a right to apply to the Ohio Putative Father Registry. This registry will allow presumed fathers to be contacted if the child is ever placed for adoption. The unmarried father must be placed on the registry no later than 30 days after the birth of the child, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. This registry is eligible for any children born after July 1, 1997.

You may access the paternity enhancement brochure at:Paternity Enhancement Brochure.

You may access the Vital Statistics Registrar website at:Vital Statistics Registrar.

You may access the Ohio Central Paternity Registry (CPR) website at:Central Paternity Registry.

You may access the Ohio paternity related frequently asked questions and answers at:http://jfs.ohio.gov/Ocs/OCSFAQs.stm.

You may access additional information regarding establishing paternity via acknowledgment of paternity affidavit or genetic testing at:https://www.oh-paternity.com/faq.html.
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The Ohio Administrative Code rules related to paternity establishment can be found at:http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/5101%3A12-40.
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