On April 8, 2025, Ohio Senate Bill 174 (“SB 174”), a bill that would significantly change the way child custody matters are handled and heard by Ohio courts, was introduced in the Ohio Legislature by Senators Theresa Gavarone (R) and Paula Hicks-Hudson (D). Although, to date, SB 174 has not yet progressed beyond the initial stages of the legislative process, it has already received some level of broad support from various legal, governmental, and other interested groups, including the Ohio Judicial Conference, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, to name a few.
Some may recall that Ohio House Bill 508 (“HB 508”), a bill that also sought to substantially change Ohio’s child custody laws, was similarly introduced to the Ohio Legislature back in 2021, only to stall in the committee stage of the legislative process. Notably, HB 508 received substantial bipartisan support, but was, generally, opposed by several of the same legal and interested groups that now support SB 174.
At that time, we prepared a similar article series comparing the current state of Ohio’s child custody laws to the proposed changes in HB 508. Importantly, the revisions to current law proposed in SB 174 are quite different from those contemplated several years ago in the now-defunct HB 508. To this end, and in light of the recent introduction of SB 174 to the Ohio Legislature, it is worthwhile to explore its content and the potential impact the legislation could have if passed.
As before, the starting point for this analysis is to understand Ohio’s current child custody statutes, which, for all intents and purposes, remain unchanged from when HB 508 was introduced four years ago.
Custodial Arrangements in Ohio
Presently, in Ohio, there are two main ways that custodial rights to minor children can be allocated between parents: Shared Parenting and Sole Custody. Although the term “joint custody” is commonly used in popular culture, it is not, in fact, a type of custodial arrangement in Ohio.
The main difference between Shared Parenting and Sole Custody relates to decision-making authority—specifically, who is entitled to make decisions for the minor children.
- Sole Custody: Only one parent (i.e. the residential parent) is entitled to make all major decisions for the minor children. The other parent (i.e. the non-residential parent) is entitled to visitation or parenting time with the minor children but no decision-making authority.
- Shared Parenting: In contrast, in a Shared Parenting arrangement, each parent is considered a residential parent—and thus, share decision-making authority for the minor children.
It is also important to note that a family’s custodial arrangement (i.e. Shared Parenting vs. Sole Custody) is completely independent from the visitation schedule that the parents enjoy with the minor children. Thus, having a certain custodial arrangement does not necessarily result in or require a certain corresponding parenting time or visitation schedule. For example, a family could have a Shared Parenting arrangement where one parent has the overwhelming majority of the parenting time. Likewise, a family could have a Sole Custody arrangement where parenting time is split equally between the parents.
How Ohio Courts Currently Decide Custody and Parenting Time?
Ultimately, the court must evaluate the evidence and make a custodial determination, specifically, either Shared Parenting or Sole Custody, that is in the best interest of the child or children at issue. Likewise, after reviewing the evidence, the court must also craft an appropriate parenting time or visitation schedule that is in the best interest of the child or children at issue.
Under current law, a court may only order Shared Parenting if at least one parent affirmatively requests it. These affirmative steps include, but are not limited to, presenting a proposed Shared Parenting Plan to the court for its review and consideration. If neither parent takes these affirmative steps, the court cannot issue an order for Shared Parenting, and instead, is only able to award Sole Custody to one of the parents. This is true even if the court believes, based on the evidence presented, that Shared Parenting is, in fact, in the best interest of the children. In this way, the current Ohio child custody laws effectively set Sole Custody as the default, unless a parent takes affirmative steps to request and demonstrate Shared Parenting to the court.
Furthermore, as it relates to the issuance of a parenting time or visitation schedule, courts often begin with their own standard parenting time and visitation schedule, which typically gives one parent slightly more than half of the annual parenting time with the child, while the other parent receives slightly less than half of the annual parenting time.
However, an Ohio court is not, in any way, bound by these standard schedules. Instead, each Ohio court is fully able to deviate from its standard parenting time and visitation schedule when circumstances of a case dictate that such a deviation is appropriate and in the best interest of the child. In fact, Ohio courts often do deviate from their standard parenting time and visitation schedules, by increasing or decreasing time for one or both parents as needed, as each individual custody matter must be evaluated and analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Although the above-referenced summary is, by its nature, necessarily simplified, it provides a general overview of Ohio’s current child custody framework. As a result, the natural next questions are as follows: How would SB 174, if passed by the Ohio Legislature, impact the current custodial and parenting time or visitation framework, as described above? Moreover, as a practical matter, how might SB 174 if passed, impact the current status of custody arrangements in Ohio, in general? We will explore these issues in depth in the next installment of this series.
Next Steps
At KJK Family Law, we understand just how challenging navigating child custody issues can be, especially when governing laws might soon be in flux. For further guidance on these and other related matters, please contact Janet Stewart Scalley (JS@kjk.com), Eva C. Saulnier (ECS@kjk.com) or another member of KJK Family Law by calling 216-696-8700.