COLUMBUS - Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would give divorced couples with no children the option of paying spousal support without state intervention.

        The bill would lessen the workload of the state's overburdened child support system, which has been harshly criticized for mishandling millions of dollars in payments, said its sponsor, Rep. Tom Raga, R-Mason.

        “By cutting the bureaucracy, we can save the state time and money,” Mr. Raga said.

        Couples who divorce without minor children comprise 19,000 of the cases handled by the Department of Jobs and Family Services - 2 percent of the department's 850,000 support cases.

        Judges would determine case by case which payment system would work best - either the state system or allowing divorced couples to work out their own payment plan. Couples could still opt for the state-monitored system, Mr. Raga said.

        There could be some problems with the bill. Divorced couples would not be required to keep payment records, and that could make it difficult to enforce spousal support.

        “If they pay in cash, someone's always going to claim they did pay and someone is always going to claim they didn't pay,” said Judge James Flannery of domestic relations court in Warren County.

        A change in the bill that would require couples who choose to work out their own payment plan to keep records could avert such a problem, said Mitch Bonham, director of Warren County Child Support Enforcement Agency.

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