Ohio uniform domestic relations forms

The Ohio Supreme Court's announced the adoption of new uniform domestic relations forms, which will enable judges, parents and families, and attorneys to be literally on the same page in divorce and dissolution proceedings.

Before this measure there were no standard forms for Ohio domestic relations courts, with all of the state’s 88 counties having their own separate sets of court forms in divorce and dissolution cases. “Consistency was a key driver in the effort to develop standard forms,” Columbus attorney Heather G. Sowald, Advisory Committee on Children, Families, and the Courts, subcommittee co-chair, said. All domestic relations courts in Ohio will now accept the new forms, as well as their own local forms.

Licking County Domestic Relations Court Judge Craig R. Baldwin, who serves as the other subcommittee co-chair, also pointed out that the forms provide the courts with information such as income and expenses, assets and debts, and health insurance coverage, which domestic relations judges often need to make equitable rulings.

The forms become effective July 1, 2010.

Text of New Forms