HB 461 Summary

• Establishes the Ohio Collaborative Family Law Act (sections 3105.41-3105.54) to provide a voluntary, non-litigation process for resolving family law disputes when parties sign a participation agreement and are represented by collaborative family lawyers.

• Prohibits collaborative family lawyers from appearing in court on related matters if the collaborative process fails, unless seeking to approve a settlement agreement or protecting a party's health and safety in an emergency.

• Creates privilege protecting collaborative family law communications from discovery and admissibility in proceedings, with exceptions for public records, threats/crimes, and certain family law disputes involving abuse or neglect.

• Clarifies attorney-client privilege in section 2317.02 to specify that privilege is waived when a client voluntarily reveals attorney-client communications in a non-privileged context, rather than just by testifying.

• Modifies spousal support modification standards in section 3105.18 to require that changed circumstances be substantial, not previously considered, and to direct courts to honor parties' voluntary agreements and respect original jurisdictional limits unless parties agree otherwise.