Child support license suspensions

In Ohio, your driver’s license can be suspended if you don’t pay child support. A suspension can happen if:

• You fail to pay at least 50% of your monthly child support for 90 days in a row, or
• You get a Default Notice from your child support enforcement agency (CSEA) and still don’t make a payment.

If you ignore the notices and don’t make payments, the CSEA can send a suspension request to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). The BMV will then:

• Suspend your driver’s license (including commercial or motorcycle licenses)
• Refuse to issue or renew your license
• Refuse to reinstate your license until the CSEA clears the suspension

Driving with a suspended license is illegal. If caught, you could face fines, longer suspensions, vehicle loss or jail time.

What are my options if I have a child support suspension?

You generally have the following options:

• Work with the CSEA to remove the suspension, or
• File paperwork in court to ask for limited driving privileges.

Before you apply to have your child support suspension removed or apply for limited driving privileges:

• Check for any other suspensions. The first step is to check whether you have any other license suspensions.
• Remove your other suspensions first. If you have other license suspensions, you should take care of those first. You can’t reinstate your license until all suspensions are resolved. Also, if you're asking the court for limited driving privileges, the court is more likely to approve your request if you've already addressed any other issues with your license. Use our driver's license reinstatement action plan to figure out the steps you need to take.

There are different kinds of suspensions, and you can have more than one suspension at a time. Other common reasons for a suspended license are:

• Not having insurance (noncompliance suspension)
• Not appearing for the court hearing (warrant blocks and license forfeiture suspension) 
• Too many traffic violations (12-point suspensions)
• Not paying court debt (failure to make payments on a court payment plan)
• Causing an accident and not having insurance (judgment suspensions and security suspensions)

Find an overview of driver's license suspensions in Ohio.

What you need to do to clear those other suspensions depends on the type of suspensions you have. You should start by checking your driver’s license status first.

How to check your driver’s license status

You can check the status of your driver’s license by reviewing your driving record on the BMV’s website. You will need to provide your:

• Date of birth
• Last four digits of your Social Security number
• Driver’s license number or personal information like your first and last name

The status of your license could be:

• Valid, meaning your license is current.
• Failure to reinstate, meaning your license was suspended and the suspension time has ended, but you didn’t do everything you needed to get your license back.
• Suspended, meaning your license was withdrawn or not valid.

By checking your records on the BMV’s website, you should be able to find:

• Type of suspension you have
• Dates of the suspension
• How to clear the suspension
• How much you need to pay (or “reinstatement fees”)

Once your other suspensions are resolved, you can move forward with asking the CSEA to remove your child support suspension or apply to the court for limited driving privileges.

How to apply to remove the child support suspension 

You can get a child support suspension removed if you can pay the child support you owe or meet another option with the CSEA.

Ohio law also now allows the CSEA to remove your suspension if you can show that your driver’s license suspension prevents, or will prevent, you from paying your child support or child support arrearages.

For example, because you are unable to drive to work, school, or a job training program, the suspension prevents you from paying child support. You could show proof by submitting a letter from your employer or job training program that driving is necessary for your work or your work is far away, and you need car transportation to get there.

Contact your CSEA agency

You must work with your CSEA agency to have your suspension removed. Start by contacting them. You can mail them a letter, visit their office, or send a message through the Ohio Child Support Customer Service Portal.

To send a message through the Ohio Child Support Customer Portal, follow these steps:

• Log in. Log into the Customer Service Portal or Mobile App. If you do not have an online account, select “Creating an Account.” You will need to have your driver’s license or State ID number, and your Social Security number ready. Once you have an account, navigate to your home page.
• Create a new message. Under “Messages” from the menu bar, select “New Message.” Under Message Topic, select “Other.” Select the Case/Order that is associated with your driver’s license suspension.
• Explain why your suspension should be removed. Add details in the message section that you are contacting your CSEA agency about getting your driver’s license suspension removed, and why it is preventing you from paying for your child support.
• Include proof. Click the “Attach Support Documents” icon to include proof that your driver’s license suspension is preventing you from paying your child support. Proof may be that the suspension prevents you from getting to and from work, or driving for work, if you drive for a living.
• Complete and send your message. Make sure your message is complete, and your attachment is fully uploaded. When complete, hit “send.”

Your CSEA will reach out to you via the portal about your request, and if they need more information, they will let you know.

If you do not want to send a message through the Service Portal, you can contact your CSEA agency by looking up where they are located and visiting their office. 

If your driver’s license suspension is removed, you may owe reinstatement fees. If you can’t afford these fees, you may be able to get help from the BMV’s reinstatement fee debt reduction and amnesty program.

How to apply for limited driving privileges

You can apply to a court for limited driving privileges. First check the status of your driver’s license by reviewing your driving record on the BMV’s website. 

Clear your other suspensions first 

Address your other license suspensions before applying to the court that handles your child support case. The court will not grant you limited privileges if you have other driving suspensions.

Find the right court

You will file your petition for limited driving privileges with the court that manages your child support order. The court that manages your order is either a Juvenile Court or Domestic Relations Court:

• Juvenile Court. The Juvenile Court is responsible for cases when a child is a part of a Children’s Services case, or if the child’s parents were never married to each other.
• Domestic Relations Court. The Domestic Relations Court is responsible for cases where the child’s parents are married, separated or divorced from each other.

If a court does not manage your child support order, you will file in the county Juvenile or Domestic Relations Court where the CSEA agency that manages your support order is located. Note: In Richland County and Summit County, the Domestic Relations Court handles all child support cases, no matter the marital status of the parents.

File your petition with the court

After locating your court, check with the court to find out if it has an application or form you can use to apply for limited driving privileges. This form may be called a motion, petition or complaint. It may be available through the Clerk of Court’s office.

Also be prepared to:

• Pay a filing fee. Depending on your court, it may be $100 or more to file your request.
• Provide proof of financial responsibility. You may need to file a certificate (an SR-22 bond) from your auto insurance company. Learn how to get an SR-22 in Ohio.
• Provide proof of why you need to drive. The court may need information about your work, school or other reasons why you’re asking for limited driving privileges.
• Submit a non-certified copy of your driving record with your motion. Visit the Ohio BMV’s website to get a copy of your driving history. Print off a copy of your driving record and submit it with your motion.

In your motion, you’ll need to state the reasons that you are requesting driving privileges. The court may give you limited driving privileges if you need to drive to get to:

• Work
• School
• Medical appointments
• A driver's license exam
• Court-ordered treatment
• Your child’s school or childcare

Do not forget to submit a copy of your driving record with your court motion. The court will want to make sure that you do not have any other driving suspensions or barriers to driving, like needing to pay other reinstatement fees.

To qualify for limited driving privileges, your license may not be expired. If your license has already expired, you must ask the court to help you renew it.

Follow instructions from the court

After you have made your request:

• Go to the hearing. The court may request you to attend a hearing. Make sure you go to the hearing. Learn how to get ready for a hearing. The court will contact the CSEA agency that issued your suspension to see if it objects to the court granting you limited driving privileges. The court will take into consideration the CSEA agency’s view.
• Wait for the court's decision. After you have made your request, you will need to wait for the court to make its decision. If the court does give you limited driving privileges, it will issue you a permit or another document that states the reasons, times and places you are allowed to drive, like only driving to work during your normal working hours.
• Keep the court order with you in your car so you can show it if you are stopped by the police.

You may owe fees even if you are given limited driving privileges. If your license is suspended, you probably owe reinstatement fees and may need to pay for a new driver’s license, if your license expired during your suspension. If you can’t afford these payments, you may be able to get help from the BMV’s reinstatement fee debt reduction and amnesty program.

Other ways to remove your child support suspension

You can also remove your child support suspension with your CSEA agency by:

• Paying your child support balance in full. You must make full payment of your child support to your CSEA agency, or if you only owe child support arrearages, you must pay your arrearages in full.
• Paying any child support that was owed in the last 90 days. If you are unable to pay your child support balance in full, you can pay any child support that was owed in the 90 days before your CSEA sent you a default notice.
• Showing proof of employment. You can show your CSEA that you are currently employed and provide it with your employer’s contact information, so they can send a withholding of child support to your employer. The CSEA will confirm your employment by contacting your employer.
• Presenting a bank account statement. Provide your CSEA agency with a bank statement that shows you have an open bank account with money in it, so your child support can be withdrawn from your account.
• Getting a new child support order issued. You can request a review of your current child support order and ask for a modification. You should know that requesting a modification could result in your monthly child support obligation increasing to a higher amount. If your CSEA modifies your child support order, you will need to pay the new monthly balance and any arrearages that were due under your child support order.
• Participating in a CSEA family support or job search program. Your CSEA agency may have a family support or job search program that you can join. A CSEA job search program may connect you with job interviews or provide you with employment training. You must attend job interviews or job training. If you fully participate in the program, and the CSEA is satisfied with your participation, the CSEA will have your driver’s license suspension removed.
• Providing proof that you are no longer able to work. You need to show your CSEA agency that you are unable to work for reasons beyond your control. A reason that could prevent you from working is having a total and permanent disability that has been verified by your doctor or the Social Security agency.
• Getting the other parent to forgive arrearages. If you owe the other parent child support arrearages for your child(ren), the other parent is still alive, and your child(ren) are not on public assistance, like SNAP, Medicaid, or TANF, you and the other parent can agree to waive some of your child support arrearages. An arrearage is any past due child support owed to a custodial parent. This amount can be waived or compromised (forgiven) by the other parent, and once it is waived it cannot be reinstated. To waive the past due support, the custodial parent who is owed the support can file a Request and Affidavit of Arrearage Forgiveness for all or some of the amount. A court may or may not grant the request. Contact the court that oversees your child support case for more information.

If any of these reasons apply to you, work directly with your CSEA to provide proof and satisfy all requirements. Once you have completed the steps your CSEA has given you, it will notify the BMV to remove your driver’s license suspension. You may still owe reinstatement fees to the BMV. You can seek help from the BMV’s reinstatement fee debt reduction and amnesty program.

Where to learn more

If you have more questions about driver’s license suspensions for nonpayment of child support or applying for limited driving privileges, please contact your CSEA agency. 

For questions regarding reinstatement fees, please call the BMV with questions at (844) 644-6268, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Where to find a lawyer

There are many ways to find a lawyer in Ohio. Child support suspension cases can be difficult to handle on your own. Consider contacting legal aid or a private lawyer, if you can.

Legal aids are nonprofit law firms that provide free legal help to low-income people. When you contact legal aid, they will ask you some questions about yourself and your problem. Then they will let you know if they can help or if they can connect you to other resources. Unfortunately, legal aids have limited resources and cannot always help everyone. To find your local legal aid, use our Find Your Legal Aid tool.

If you want to hire a lawyer, bar associations in Ohio often have "lawyer referral services" that can help connect you to a lawyer. Fees can vary. Go to Legal Help and Lawyers on this page to find resources in your area.