Salyer v. Newman, 2011 Ohio 6676

Salyer filed paternity and custody action in 2005; court ordered $155.49 monthly child support.
Salyer defaulted on child support; arrearage forgiven by agreed entry in 2006.
CSEA filed contempt motions in 2008 and 2010; payments were made in response to show-cause.
2010 hearing: Newman proposed terminating support and forgiving arrearage; court declined.
2011 sentencing: Newman stated she would agree to termination and forgiveness, but court again declined and ordered costs; no jail term imposed.
On appeal, the court remanded the arrearage issue for reconsideration and affirmed the jurisdictional ruling on the driver’s license matter.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court should have adopted the parties’ arrearage compromise	Salyer argues the arrearage should be forgiven as agreed	Newman supports honoring the parties’ compromise	Remanded for reconsideration of the arrearage compromise.
Whether the court erred by not addressing driver’s license reinstatement under R.C. 4510.73	Salyer asserts court had jurisdiction to decide license issue	Newman did not contest jurisdiction; municipal forum appropriate	Jurisdiction issue not reviewed; affirmed in part, remanded for further proceedings.

Byrd v. Knuckles, 120 Ohio St.3d 428 (2008) (allows modification of arrearages under certain conditions)
DePalmo v. DePalmo, 78 Ohio St.3d 535 (1997) (court acts as watchdog; settlements may be suspect in child support)
Nelson v. Nelson, 65 Ohio App.3d 800 (1990) (equitable defenses may apply to allow extrajudicial modification)
Booth v. Booth, 44 Ohio St.3d 142 (1989) (abuse of discretion standard in child support)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (1983) (abuse-of-discretion standard applied in family matters)
Columbiana Cty. Bd. of Commrs. v. Samuelson, 24 Ohio St.3d 62 (1986) (arrearages may be settled like judgments under proper circumstances)