In re K.L.D.

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2326

Syllabus

Juvenile court; child support; service of process; certified mail service; presumption of service; due process; magistrate's decision; objections; plain error; transcript; income; imputed income; potential income; voluntary unemployment; voluntary underemployment; parenting-time adjustment; health insurance; cash medical support; Civ.R. 4.1(A)(1)(a); R.C. 2151.23(G); R.C. 3119.01(C)(10); R.C. 3119.01(C)(18); R.C. 3119.02; R.C. 3119.03; R.C. 3119.051(A); R.C. 3119.30; R.C. 3119.32(D); Juv.R. 35(A); Juv.R. 16(A); Juv.R. 40(D)(3)(b). Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. Service of child-support motion was presumptively perfected where Office of Child Support Services (\OCSS\) requested certified-mail service, the clerk issued summons to father, and the certified-mail receipt showed delivery, even though address specified by OCSS had not previously been used in the case and the signature was illegible. Father could not rebut the presumption of service based solely on factual assertions in his appellate brief because he did not object, move to vacate, or present evidentiary-quality material in the juvenile court. Because father failed to object to the magistrate's decision, review was limited to plain error, and the appellate court could not consider transcripts filed only on appeal. The juvenile court committed plain error on the face of its order by imputing income to father based on the average salary of an Ohio plumber after finding only that father's employment status was \unknown.\ A specific finding of voluntary unemployment or underemployment is a condition precedent to imputing potential income. The erroneous income finding also required recalculation of the mandatory ten-percent parenting-time adjustment under R.C. 3119.051(A), and on remand the juvenile court may take new testimony pertaining to credit for parenting time or mother's income. Father's assignment of error pertaining to health insurance was overruled because the juvenile cour