IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in Ohio
In Ohio, a custody case is called "allocating parental rights and responsibilities." [OH-P1, OH-P7] The judge either names one parent the "residential parent and legal custodian" or approves a shared parenting plan where both parents share the decisions. [OH-P1, OH-P5] Shared parenting does not mean your child must spend equal time in each home. [OH-P5]
Ohio has no single statewide schedule that every family must follow. [OH-P2, OH-P7] Instead, state law requires each county's court of common pleas to adopt its own standard parenting-time guidelines, and judges can depart from them when a family's situation calls for it. [OH-P2] The Supreme Court of Ohio also publishes a free guide with sample schedules by age, but those samples do not set a minimum or maximum amount of time for either parent. [OH-P7]
When parenting time is ordered, the law says both parents should have frequent and continuing contact with the child when that is possible and good for the child. [OH-P2] If you were never married, the mother has custody automatically until a court says otherwise, and a father must establish paternity and go to court to get parenting time or custody. [OH-P3, OH-P6]
Words you’ll see in your papers
- Allocation of parental rights and responsibilities
- Ohio's legal name for deciding custody: who your child lives with and who makes the big decisions about school, health care and religion. [OH-P1, OH-P5]
- Residential parent and legal custodian
- The parent the court names as the main home for your child and the one with legal custody. This is what most people call sole custody. [OH-P1, OH-P3]
- Shared parenting
- Both parents share the major decisions under a shared parenting plan the judge approves. It does not require equal time. [OH-P1, OH-P5]
- Parenting time
- The time your child spends with a parent. Other states often call this visitation. [OH-P5]
- Parenting plan
- The written plan you give the court that says how decisions will be made and includes a parenting-time schedule. Ohio has statewide parenting plan forms, and your county court's website may have them too. [OH-P7]
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in Ohio ask first
Does Ohio start from 50/50?
No. [OH-P1, OH-P5] The judge decides what is in your child's best interest, and that can be one residential parent or shared parenting. [OH-P1] Even shared parenting does not have to mean equal time. [OH-P5] The judge may also reject a schedule the parents propose and write a different one. [OH-P7]
What does the judge look at?
Your child's best interest. [OH-P1] The law lists what the parents want; what your child wants, if the judge talked with your child; your child's relationships with parents, brothers and sisters and other important people; how well your child is doing at home, school and in the community; everyone's mental and physical health; which parent is more likely to follow the parenting-time order; unpaid child support; any history of child abuse, neglect or domestic violence; whether a parent has kept the child from court-ordered parenting time; and whether a parent plans to live outside Ohio. [OH-P1] For the schedule itself, the judge also looks at things like the distance between homes, work and school schedules, and your child's age. [OH-P2] A parent's money or income cannot be the reason to prefer that parent. [OH-P1]
Is there a standard schedule?
Yes, but it is set county by county, not by the state. [OH-P2, OH-P5] Each county court has adopted standard parenting-time guidelines, usually posted on its website, and judges can depart from them. [OH-P2, OH-P5] The statewide guide from the Supreme Court of Ohio offers sample schedules for different ages, but they are examples, not requirements. [OH-P7]
Does my child get to choose?
No age gives your child the final say. [OH-P1] The judge may talk with your child privately in the judge's office (called "in chambers"), and must do so if either parent asks. [OH-P1] Before that talk, the judge decides whether your child is mature enough to explain what they want. [OH-P1] What your child says is one factor among many. [OH-P1]
Can I move with my child?
If you are the residential parent and plan to move, Ohio law says you must file a notice of your intent to move with the court that made your order. [OH-P2] The court sends a copy to the other parent, and the court can hold a hearing to decide whether the schedule should change. [OH-P2] State law does not set one notice period for everyone, but county rules can; in Franklin County the model schedule asks for at least 60 days' notice to the other parent, with exceptions the law allows. [OH-P2, OH-P8] Plans to live outside Ohio are also a factor the judge weighs. [OH-P1]
Can the order be changed later?
Yes, if things have changed. [OH-P1] The judge must find a change in your child's or a parent's situation since the last order, and that the change in the order is needed for your child's best interest. [OH-P1] To switch which parent is the residential parent, the judge also has to find that the parents agree, that your child has already been living as part of the other parent's family with consent, or that the good from the change outweighs the harm. [OH-P1]
We were never married. What happens first?
An unmarried mother is the sole residential parent and legal custodian until a court orders something different. [OH-P3] A father has no automatic rights and must first establish paternity, which can be done by both parents signing an Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit, through the county child support agency's genetic testing, or by a court order. [OH-P6] Then he can ask the court, usually the juvenile court in the county where the child lives, for parenting time or custody. [OH-P6] When the court decides, the law says the mother and father stand equal. [OH-P3]
What if I am not safe?
A domestic violence civil protection order can temporarily decide custody and set temporary parenting time if no other court has already decided, or is deciding, custody of your children. [OH-P4] In custody cases, abuse, neglect and domestic violence are factors the judge must weigh. [OH-P1] If a protection order says you may not contact the other parent, the state guide warns that working out a schedule with them yourself, without the court's permission, would break that order; you can still prepare your own proposed schedule for the court. [OH-P7] You do not need a lawyer to ask for a protection order. [OH-P7]
Free, official places to start
- Ohio Legal Help: Child custody, visitation and shared parenting
A free plain-language explanation of custody types, parenting time and shared parenting plans in Ohio.
- Ohio Legal Help: Custody rights for unmarried parents
Explains why an unmarried mother has custody by default and the three ways to establish paternity.
- Supreme Court of Ohio: Planning for Parenting Time (December 2025)
The state's free guide to building a parenting-time schedule, with sample schedules by age and long-distance tips.
- Supreme Court of Ohio: Form 21, Parenting Plan
The statewide blank parenting plan form; you attach your own parenting-time schedule to it.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT · COLUMBUS
Franklin County
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations and Juvenile Branch
Franklin County's local rule (Domestic Rule 27.1 and Juvenile Rule 22.1) sets a model parenting-time schedule for orders made since January 1, 2015; the court calls it a guideline that parents should tailor to their children, and anything specific in your own court order comes first. [OH-P8] For parents living under 90 miles apart, you pick one of four options: alternating weeks with a Wednesday evening visit, or alternating weekends (Friday to Monday or Friday to Sunday) combined with set weekday time. [OH-P8] It also splits holidays by odd and even years, uses two-week summer blocks with the alternating-weekend options, allows each parent up to two weeks of vacation with 30 days' notice, has a shorter, more frequent schedule for babies up to 18 months, and asks a parent who is moving to give at least 60 days' notice. [OH-P8] The court also posts a separate version for parents more than 90 miles apart. [OH-P9] The Clerk's office says parents who were never married file custody motions in its Juvenile Section, and the court's Self Represented Resource Center helps low-income people without a lawyer prepare their paperwork. [OH-P10, OH-P11]
- Franklin County model parenting time schedule (Domestic Rule 27.1 / Juvenile Rule 22.1, PDF)
The court's model schedule for parents under 90 miles apart: the four weekly options, holidays, summer, vacations, moving notice and the infant schedule. Use it to draft or compare a proposed schedule.
- Franklin County Local Domestic Rule 27: Model visitation schedule
The rule's web page, which also includes the schedule for parents who live more than 90 miles apart.
- Franklin County Self Represented Resource Center
Help preparing Franklin County domestic and juvenile court forms, including custody, for low-income people without a lawyer (no legal advice; you will be asked about income).
- Franklin County Clerk of Courts: Domestic Relations
Explains which clerk's section to file in, including that never-married parents file custody papers in the Juvenile Section.
Other counties in Ohio can have different local rules and forms. Check the court where your case is filed.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
Optional statewide model
Research overview
December 2025 Supreme Court guide supplies optional statewide sample schedules; R.C. 3109.051(F)(2) separately requires each common pleas court to adopt local standard parenting-time guidelines. There is no single statewide mandatory schedule. [OH1–OH5]
Legal force and applicability
Optional planning model; not an automatic enforceable calendar. Specific agreement/order and scope control.
Authority and geographic scope
Statewide statutes govern best interests; statewide educational guide is nonbinding. Local standard rules have their own geographic scope and can be deviated from. Form 21 requires an attached case-specific parenting-time schedule. [OH1–OH4]
Custody and parenting-time presumptions
Without a shared-parenting decree, court generally makes a just/reasonable parenting-time order with a specific final schedule and, when possible and in best interests, frequent continuing contact. Shared parenting under §3109.04 is not an automatic equal-time schedule. [OH1,OH6]
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
Statewide guide offers optional age-sensitive examples; it prescribes neither a minimum nor maximum schedule. Local court guidelines and the signed judgment supply case-specific terms. [OH1, OH2]
Holidays and school breaks
No statewide assigned holiday parity identified in reviewed statutes or blank form. Check the local rule and signed parenting plan for allocation and priority. [OH1, OH3, OH4]
Summer and vacation time
No fixed statewide summer weeks identified in reviewed statutes or blank form. The local rule or case order determines quantity and notice. [OH1, OH3, OH4]
Age and development
Statute considers age, school and available time. An educational age group does not create an automatic age-triggered order. [OH1]
Safety & exceptions
Best interests can justify denial with findings. Health/safety, abuse/neglect, domestic violence and convictions are material statutory considerations. Guide warns that contact/agreements prohibited by protection orders cannot be undertaken simply to follow its cooperative suggestions. [OH1,OH2]