** URGENT COVID-19 - WE'RE STILL OPEN *** Please click here for updates. 

** COVID-19 - WE'RE STILL OPEN ***

Please click here for updates. 

Born in Toledo Ohio and grew up in Yuma Arizona, Taylor Michigan, San Juan Puerto Rico and Cleveland Ohio. Graduated from Midpark High School in 1978, 4th in class of 666. Graduated from Denison University in 1978 with a B.S degree and Eastern Michigan University in 1980, with a M.S. degree. Graduated from Capital Law School in 1991 and passed the Ohio Bar that year. I started my own law firm in 1991 and have been in private practice ever since, practicing primarily in the family law and personal injury practice areas. My firm mission is not just to give legal advice but to help people get their lives to a better place.

Big Change is Coming: Ohio Child Support Laws

change coming

You have financial and legal responsibilities to your child. It doesn't matter if you and the other parent are married.

This will remain true until the child is an adult, which is when he or she reaches age 18 in the United States.

Even if a parent does not want any parental rights he or she will still have responsibilities. A parent must make sure the child’s basic needs are being met.

Child support ensures the child has food, water, clothing, shelter, and so forth. If a married couple gets divorced, the goal is for the child's standard of living to stay the same. Or at least as close as possible to the same.

Changes

In Ohio, how child support is being calculated is changing based on new data. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is making updates to its child support laws for the first time since 1992.  

These updates will go into effect in March of 2019.  Learn more about these laws and how you’ll be affected.

Continue reading

How and When Do I Change My Divorce Decree?

How and When Do I Change My Divorce Decree?

Change is an inevitable part of life. Even after your divorce and parenting plan is finalized, things happen.

Living expenses change, children get older, and employment opportunities can appear or disappear. Regardless of whether or not you’re satisfied with the initial terms of your divorce, changes in circumstances may prompt you to renegotiate those conditions.

In most states (including Ohio), these changes are called “modifications.”

Modifications

Child custody arrangements and spousal support agreements are binding. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be changed.

Continue reading

7 Divorce Trends that will Surprise and Shock You

7 Divorce Trends that will Surprise and Shock You

unhappy wife

Divorce trends are changing.

Things that were unheard just a generation ago are now well on their way to being, if not commonplace, at least not creating too much of a stir.

Many theories are being proposed for this transformation—as usual, the millennials are cited as being behind many of the changes—but no one can say for sure that any single thing is causing a divorce to be in transition.

Some of these trends are good, while others seem positive on the surface but show some tarnish when they are examined more closely. In 2016, the last year for which figures are available, there were 6.9 marriages for every thousand people in the U.S. and 3.2 of those ended in divorce, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Continue reading

6 Important Impacts of the New Tax Bill on the Divorce Process

6 Important Impacts of the New Tax Bill on the Divorce Process

Woman sad about tax changes

A lot has been written about the new tax bill, Congress’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

The internet is packed with articles and blog posts, from The New York Times to TurboTax, warning people about the promises and pitfalls of the new bill.

A lot, too, has been written about its effect on divorce—and for good reason.

Continue reading

Marriage on the Rocks? Blame the Internet!

“The times they are a-changing.”

Bob Dylan wrote and sang these lyrics almost fifty-four years ago. Many of us of a certain age believed that Bob was ahead of his time, but it’s safe to say that not even the great Dylan was envisioning 2020 back in those relatively innocent days of 1964.

Continue reading

How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Marriage Limbo

Your Partner’s Debt Is Your Debt

A divorce is always daunting, and those unhappily wed often approach the process with trepidation.

Accustomed to the financial benefits and day-to-day normalcy of marriage, many partners today choose at the outset simply to skip divorce and avoid the hassle.

In other words, some married couples settle for divorce limbo. This is a mistake!

Continue reading

10 Questions to Ask Yourself before Starting the Divorce Process

Remember when you were little and told your parents how grand it would be to live in a bigger house or ride in a nicer car or have a cool bike like the kid down the street?

They had the same response each time. They would remind you that the grass is always greener on the other side.

You understand, of course, that they weren’t telling you the grass is greener. Your parents were reminding you that it only seems greener.

Continue reading

4 Facts You Need to Know About Pensions and Divorce

4 Facts You Need to Know About Pensions and Divorce

Divorce. That’s a word that usually conjures up heartache: Like that pain, you felt from too many “angry nights and tearful dawns,” to steal a few lyrics from an old Carly Simon song. 

Continue reading

The Seven Deadly Sins of Ohio Divorces

The Seven Deadly Sins of Ohio Divorces

If you’re facing a divorce, you may feel confused, defeated and overwhelmed. It may seem like you’re wading into an emotional and financial minefield.

Maybe you feel like you can’t handle everything that’s coming your way – or you don’t know how to. You might feel like you’ve lost the clarity and perspective that you usually have, just when you need it the most.

Continue reading

Why More Couples are Getting a Gray Divorce

Why More Couples are Getting a Gray Divorce

SeniorDivorceCoupleTornHeart

What is a gray divorce? It's a term used to describe an increasing and all too common occurrence in the past decade or so--getting a divorce after the age of 50.

In recent years the rates of "gray divorce" have more than doubled

Continue reading

What You Need to Know About Dating After Divorce

What You Need to Know About Dating After Divorce

date night

Dating isn't easy, but it can be even harder after divorce because it brings its own set of challenges. 

When a relationship like a marriage ends, you’re not yourself. You need time to rebuild and recover.

But how much time do you need?

Continue reading

Should You Divorce Your Divorce Lawyer?

Should You Divorce Your Divorce Lawyer?

 

What Should You Do if You Feel Your Lawyer Isn't Representing Your Needs?

Getting a divorce can be stressful enough, but what if the attorney you have chosen to represent you doesn’t seem to be working out?

Continue reading

How to Find Closure After Your Marriage Ends

How to Find Closure After Your Marriage Ends

Your relationship has come to an end. But you aren’t satisfied.

You want answers. You need closure.

But how are you defining closure? Is it a clean break with everything ended to the satisfaction of you both? Is it having all of your questions about what went wrong with your relationship answered?

Continue reading

What to do When Your Child Refuses to Visit the Other Parent

teddy bear girl

You spent a long time getting your shared parenting plan hammered out so that both you and your ex were satisfied with it.

Or maybe you had a protracted custody battle that ended in the court making the parenting decision for you.

Either way, there is often some point in their lives that a child may start to resent the visitation schedule and refuse to see the other parent.

What can you do in this situation?

Are you supposed to make your child go or should you give in?

What are the possible legal consequences?

And can older children decide on their own whether or not they want to visit the non-custodial parent?

In this article, we will discuss common problems that happen in shared parenting, the possible legal ramifications and some things you can do to make the transition easier on your child.

Continue reading

9 Signs You May be in an Emotional Affair and How to End It

Emotional Affair man woman

Even if you are married or in a committed romantic relationship, you still need to have other relationships in your life. Usually, these relationships are with friends or co-workers. It's possible to be friends with another person without crossing the line into something more.

However, if you think about this person throughout the day, deliberately change your routine to connect with this person, begin fantasizing about what life would be like with them, and begin comparing this person with your spouse, you are crossing a line.

These connections can sometimes evolve into what is commonly known as an emotional affair.

Just because your situation isn’t physical, doesn’t mean that what you are doing is right. An emotional affair can have just as big of an impact on your committed relationship as a physical one.

Once you cross the line from friendship or co-worker into something more, it’s difficult to repair the damage that your spouse and other family members will suffer due to your behavior.

Continue reading

The Important Things Your Divorce Will Teach You

The Important Things Your Divorce Will Teach You
relieved man

You didn’t think that your future included divorce, but here you are. You don’t need to be told the downsides to divorce. You lived them. But what abo...

Continue reading

How To Protect Your Property In A Divorce

How To Protect Your Property In A Divorce

Most couples going through a divorce will have to deal with the issue of property and asset division. When it comes to these items, the state of Ohio is considered an equitable distribution state.

To understand divorce laws in Ohio regarding property division, you have to understand that equitable is not defined as equal, the property will not be divided 50-50. For example, just because one spouse was the major breadwinner is no guarantee that he or she will get the majority of the marital property.

Continue reading

Discovery: What it is and why it's Important for Your Divorce Case

Discovery: What it is and why it's Important for Your Divorce Case

What is Discovery?

The term "discovery" refers to the process of the exchange of information between the parties. This information includes each spouse’s personal and financial situations and is used in both dissolution and divorce cases in Ohio.

Informal discovery involves both sides exchanging information voluntarily. An attorney will prepare a list of important documents and ask the other lawyer for them. Your spouse’s lawyer will request the same from you. The more you both cooperate during this information exchange, the more money you will save.

Continue reading

What Your Divorce Lawyer Needs to Know

divorce agreement 2

When you talk to a divorce lawyer about your case, there are several questions you need to ask. But any good attorney should ask you questions as well. The more information an attorney has, the better they will be able to help you.

What is your story?  What happened between you and your spouse to put you in front of a divorce attorney?

The important points the attorney will be looking for are when you were married, how long you have been married, what happened—or did not happen—during the marriage, your income and employment situation, if you have children and why you are in the situation you are in.

Continue reading

What's the CSEA?

What's the CSEA?

 

Parents have a responsibility to support their children. Obtaining child support is important for many reasons, which is why the Child Support Enforcement Agency was created. Although this agency was established by the federal government, each state is required to have its separate unit to administer a child support program.

Continue reading

By appointment only

Delaware, OH

Columbus, OH

Dublin, OH

Granville, OH

Jack’s Law Office

305 S Sandusky St

Delaware, OH 43015

(740) 369-7567