OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 14 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 14’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Re-Referred by House Rules and Reference
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Creech and John
Effective date:
Chenwei Zhang, Attorney
SUMMARY
Allocation of parental rights and responsibilities
 Establishes the following state policy:
 To assure that minor children have frequent associations and a continuing
relationship with both parents after parents have legally separated, divorced, or
dissolved or annulled their marriage or in situations in which the mother is
unmarried;
 To encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing;
 That, to the greatest degree possible, parents share equally in parenting time and
the rights and responsibilities of rearing their children.
 Permits a court to allocate parental rights and responsibilities under: (1) a shared
parenting order that incorporates a shared parenting agreement that the parents jointly
submit, or (2) a parental rights and responsibilities order, if no shared parenting order is
issued.
 Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a jointly submitted shared parenting
agreement for the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities is in the best interest
of the child, unless the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the allocation
would be detrimental to the child.
 Establishes rebuttable presumptions, when parents do not jointly submit a shared
parenting agreement that both (1) equal decision-making rights and responsibilities and
(2) equal parenting time are in the best interest of the child, unless the court finds, by
clear and convincing evidence, that such an allocation would be detrimental to the child.
 Requires all shared parenting orders and parental rights and responsibilities orders to
include provisions covering all factors that are relevant to the care of children, such as
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the designation of a parent for child support purposes, school attendance, and other
purposes; a parenting time schedule; communication methods; and information sharing.
 Requires a shared parenting order or parental rights and responsibilities order to be
issued no later than nine months after the date that a party files a motion for a
temporary order or the date that the parties last filed a joint motion requesting an
extension of a temporary order.
Shared parenting orders
 Requires the court to encourage parents to jointly submit a shared parenting agreement
for the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.
 Requires the parents to file a shared parenting agreement no later than 30 days before
a hearing to determine the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities, except that
the court may waive the deadline for good cause shown.
 Identifies factors for the court to consider in rebutting a presumption that a shared
parenting agreement is in the best interest of the child, such as the demonstrated ability
of each parent to cooperate with the other parent and any history of child abuse or
neglect, spouse abuse, or other domestic violence-related offenses.
 Requires the court, if it determines that a presumption is rebutted, to order the parents
to make appropriate changes to remedy the court’s objections.
 Requires the court to approve a shared parenting agreement if it is not rebutted or if
the parents jointly submit changes to meet the court’s objections to the agreement.
 Requires an approved shared parenting agreement to be incorporated into a shared
parenting order, which must be issued with a final decree of dissolution, divorce,
annulment, or legal separation.
 Requires a shared parenting order to take immediate effect when it is issued, subject to
modification or termination under the bill’s provisions.
Parental rights and responsibilities orders
 Requires the court to issue a parental rights and responsibilities order when the parents
have not entered into a shared parenting agreement or when the court objects to a
shared parenting agreement and the court’s objections are not remedied.
 Requires the parents to submit certain information to the court 30 days before a
hearing to allocate parental rights and responsibilities when they have not entered into
a shared parenting agreement, such as work schedules, living arrangements of the
parent and child, and factors for rebutting presumptions of equality.
 Requires the parent who objects to a presumption of equal decision-making rights and
responsibilities or equal parenting time to bear the burden of proof that the
arrangement would be detrimental to the children.
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 Identifies factors for the court to consider in rebutting the presumptions that equal
decision-making rights and responsibilities and equal parenting time are in the best
interest of the child, such as the recommendation of a guardian ad litem and any history
of child abuse or neglect, spouse abuse, or other domestic violence-related offenses.
 Requires the court, if either presumption is rebutted, to consider whether a parent has
intentionally misled the court, made false allegations of the other parent harming the
child, or communicated false information to gain a tactical advantage.
 Requires the court, if the presumption of equal decision-making rights and
responsibilities is rebutted, to:
 Issue an order designating one parent as the residential parent and legal custodian
of the child; and
 Allocate most of the decision-making rights and responsibilities to the parent who
has demonstrated a greater willingness to cooperate with the other parent and has
not misled the court or communicated false allegations or information.
 Requires the court, if the presumption of equal parenting time is rebutted, to:
 Issue an order allocating parental rights and responsibilities with unequal parenting
time in accordance with its determination;
 Award the majority of parenting time to the parent who (1) is more likely to honor
and facilitate parenting time for the other parent, if the court determines that one
parent has interfered with or continuously and willfully denied parenting time to the
other parent and (2) has not misled the court or communicated false allegations or
information; and
 Construct a parenting time schedule that is consistent with the child’s welfare.
 Requires the court, if neither presumption has been rebutted, to issue an order
allocating both equal decision-making rights and responsibilities, with both parents
designated as the residential parent and legal custodian of the child, and equal
parenting time.
 Requires the court, if one presumption is rebutted but the other is not, to allocate the
nonrebutted presumption equally.
Modification and termination of orders
 Allows one or both parents under a shared parenting order or parental rights and
responsibilities order to file a motion for the order to be modified or terminated.
Shared parenting orders
 Requires the court to issue a modified shared parenting order incorporating a modified
shared parenting agreement if both parents under the order agree to a modification of
the agreement and jointly file a motion for modification, provided that the modified
agreement is not detrimental to the child.
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 Requires the court to dismiss a motion for modification of a shared parenting
agreement if the court finds the modified agreement to be detrimental to the child.
 Allows a court to do one of the following when: (1) one parent files a motion for
modification of the shared parenting agreement or if both parents file separate motions
for modifications, and (2) based on facts that have arisen that were unknown to the
court, a change in circumstances has occurred for the child or parents:
 If the court determines that the requested changes to the shared parenting
agreement are not detrimental to the child  issue a modified shared parenting
order that incorporates the modified agreement.
 If the court determines that the requested changes are detrimental and the existing
plan is not detrimental to the child  dismiss the motion to modify the shared
parenting order.
 If the court determines that the requested changes to the agreement are
detrimental and the existing plan is also detrimental to the child  terminate the
existing shared parenting order.
 Allows the court to terminate a shared parenting order on the motion of one or both
parents if the court determines either:
 The shared parenting agreement incorporated into the order is detrimental to the
child; or
 One parent demonstrates a pattern of willfully creating conflict in an attempt to
disrupt a current or pending shared parenting agreement, the court determines by a
preponderance of evidence that it is unable to enter into a shared parenting order
that will reduce conflict, and the disruptive behavior is a material change in
circumstances.
 Requires the court to issue a parental rights and responsibilities order if a shared
parenting order is terminated because:
 One parent has requested modification and the court concluded that both the
requested modification and the existing shared parenting plan are detrimental; or
 One or both parents file a motion for termination and the court determines that the
shared parenting agreement is detrimental to the child.
 Requires the court to issue a parental rights and responsibilities order with the
nondisruptive parent as the residential parent and legal custodian of the child if a
shared parenting order is terminated because one or both parents file a motion for
termination and the court determines that one parent has willfully disrupted an
agreement.
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Parental rights and responsibilities orders
 Allows both parents under a parental rights and responsibilities order to jointly motion
the court to modify the order as a shared parenting order, subject to the provisions
governing shared parenting agreements.
 Allows a court to make modifications when one parent files a motion or both parents
file separation motions requesting modifications of a parental rights and responsibilities
order if it determines:
 The order is detrimental to the child; and
 Based on facts that have arisen since the prior order that were unknown to the
court, a change in circumstances has occurred to the child or parents.
Other allocation provisions
 Allows parents to request a temporary allocation of parental rights and responsibilities
in accordance with the state policy and the bill’s presumptions, and to jointly move to
extend a temporary order.
 Prohibits a court from drawing any presumptions from a temporary order or considering
a temporary order as a factor when making a final allocation of parental rights and
responsibilities in a shared parenting agreement or parental rights and responsibilities
order.
 Requires the court to designate one of the parents’ residences as the child’s home for
purposes of receiving public assistance or establishing school district residence.
Parenting time and companionship and visitation orders
 Requires a court to issue a parenting time order if only one parent is designated the
residential parent and legal custodian of the child, unless the court finds by clear and
convincing evidence that parenting time would be detrimental to the child.
 Generally requires that the court issue a transition plan, to be completed within
12 months, if it denies parenting time to a parent who is not the residential parent and
legal custodian of a child, in order to encourage, facilitate, establish, or re-establish the
relationship between that parent and the child.
 Prohibits a court from issuing a transition plan if the parent has failed to demonstrate a
desire and ability to establish or re-establish a relationship with the child and under
other circumstances, such as when the parent has abused or neglected the child or the
parent lives too far away and is unwilling to move closer.
 Requires the court to modify the parental rights and responsibilities order to provide for
equal parenting time and decision-making rights and responsibilities upon timely
completion of a transition plan, unless one or both parents file motions requesting to
modify the order on or before completion of a transition plan and the court has ruled on
the motion.
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 Requires the court, when determining whether to grant companionship or visitation to a
grandparent, other relative, or any person other than the child’s parent, to determine
that granting such rights would not be detrimental to the child.
 Creates a presumption that equal parenting time is in the best interest of the child,
when the mother is unmarried and the father requests parenting time.
 Provides that, when a court must state its findings of fact and conclusions of law in
writing in response to denials of parenting time and companionship and visitation, it
must do so in accordance with Rule 53 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, if applicable.
Granting rights to a putative father
 Requires the court to consider certain factors when determining whether to award
parenting time or temporary custody to a putative father when a parent and child
relationship has not yet been established.
False accusation of abuse or neglect
 Allows a court to impose a reasonable monetary sanction or community service, as well
as compensatory parenting time, if the court has determined that a person intentionally
made a false accusation of child abuse or neglect against a parent.
Parenting time interference
 Requires a court to grant the following, after a hearing and finding that a parent
interfered with another parent’s parenting time:
 An award of compensatory parenting time, provided that it is not detrimental to the
child;
 An award of any reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
 Allows a court to impose additional remedies for parental interference, such as a
modified order, an order to require parents or the child to attend counseling or
coaching, an order to post bond, and an award of reasonable costs and fees.
Relocation
 Requires, generally, a relocating parent to file a notice of intent to relocate with the
clerk of the court and the clerk to send a copy of the notice to the other parent.
 Establishes requirements that must be included in a notice, including an updated
address and date of relocation.
 Requires a notice to be filed at least 60 days before the intended relocation, or within
ten days after the parent knew of the intended relocation if the 60-day requirement
cannot be met.
 Allows a parent to file a motion for the court to determine whether the health, safety,
and welfare or liberty of a person is being put at risk by filing a relocation notice.
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