If you are seeking to establish or change legal or custodial rights of your child, in relation to the other parent or guardian, then you are seeking a Parentage Case. Below are helpful links for all the form you may need to present your case.
For more information: Ohio Legal Help, 2023
General:
Parenting Time Schedules:
Third-party legal custody in Ohio refers to a legal status granted by a court to an individual or entity other than the child’s parents, which vests the custodian with the right to have physical care and control of the child. This includes determining where and with whom the child shall live, as well as the right and duty to protect, train, and discipline the child, and to provide the child with food, shelter, education, and medical care. These rights and duties are subject to any residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities retained by the child’s parents, such as reasonable visitation and the privilege to consent to adoption or determine the child’s religious affiliation.
Legal custody to a third party is distinct from permanent custody, as it does not terminate the parents’ residual rights and allows for the possibility of the parents regaining custody in the future. The court’s decision to grant legal custody to a third party is based on the best interests of the child and requires a finding by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than the higher standard of clear and convincing evidence required for termination of parental rights. In order for the Court to grant a third party, non-parent, legal custody the third party needs to have the agreement of the parent or prove that the parent is an unsuitable custodian.