If you're a single parent with an order to receive child support, you probably know when that monthly payment from your former spouse comes -- and when it doesn't -- and whether it's the proper amount. Most recipients rely heavily on that payment, and when they don't get it, it affects both their bank account and their children.

If you're a parent responsible for paying child support, you probably are also well aware of when that payment goes out and just how much leaves your bank account. But what about other contributions you make to your child? Do those contribute to the monthly amount you give to your child's other parent? Not according to a recent ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The decision stems from the case of a father who had been ordered to make monthly child support payments of $1,000 when he and his wife divorced in 2000. He stopped making payments in 2007, instead giving his daughter a $125 gift card for Christmas and $60 in cash for her birthday in 2008. The girl's mother remarried, and her new husband wanted to adopt her daughter. He argued that consent from the girl's biological father wasn't necessary because he had shirked his child support responsibilities. The father argued that the gift card and cash counted as support.

Although the divorced father argued he had justifiable reasons for missing the payments, the state Supreme Court ruled that his monetary gifts could not act as even a partial substitute for payment of court-ordered child support. As a result, the father's consent wasn't needed for the adoption.

The case could affect other cases in which step-parents in the state want to adopt their spouse's children. Perhaps more importantly, it sends a clear message that gifts are not the same as mandatory support. While you're free to give those to your children, you're still responsible for the monthly payments established by the court.

Source: 13abc.com, "Ohio court: small gifts don't equal child support," The Associated Press, Jan. 25, 2012