Background
The parties divorced in 2022 and share two children under a shared-parenting plan. Although the child-support worksheet calculated Husband’s obligation at $8,142.85, the parties agreed to deviate that amount to zero for at least two years, and the divorce decree ordered $0 monthly support.
After the two-year period elapsed, Wife moved to modify support. The trial court recalculated Husband’s support obligation at $8,365.99 but compared that figure with the pre-deviation worksheet amount from the divorce rather than the $0 amount required by the existing order. Finding no ten-percent change, it denied Wife’s motion.
The Court’s Holding
The Eighth District reversed and remanded. Under R.C. 3119.79(A), a recalculated support amount must be compared with the amount required under the existing support order—not with an earlier, pre-deviation worksheet calculation.
Because the existing order required Husband to pay $0 and the recalculated obligation exceeded $8,000, the statutory ten-percent threshold was plainly met. That deviation constituted a substantial change in circumstances requiring the trial court to consider modification. The error was not harmless because it led the court to deny the motion without recognizing that change. On remand, the trial court may still consider whether a deviation from the calculated guideline amount is warranted under the statutory factors.
Key Takeaways
- For a support-modification motion, the ten-percent test compares the new guideline calculation with the amount due under the existing order.
- A prior worksheet calculation does not replace a zero-dollar support order for purposes of R.C. 3119.79(A).
- Meeting the ten-percent threshold establishes a substantial change in circumstances, but the trial court may consider a justified deviation on remand.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that parties cannot use a prior, pre-deviation guideline calculation to avoid the statutory modification analysis when the operative support order requires a different amount. A zero-dollar order and a new guideline amount above zero will ordinarily satisfy the ten-percent threshold.
The ruling does not compel a particular final support amount. It requires the domestic-relations court to proceed from the correct statutory premise and then evaluate whether a guideline deviation is justified and in the children’s best interests.