Should you pay into a 401k plan if you owe child support?

In Ohio, assets held in retirement accounts are generally exempt from attachment by creditors unless it can be shown that the reason for depositing the funds in such accounts was to evade collection. (R.C. 2329.66 http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2329.66 ) Thus, unless you are depositing the funds for the purpose of evading payment of your child support, the funds there would not be subject to collection. I think that a court would be unlikely to rule that a normal amount of contributions to such a plan would constitute an attempt to evade payment of support, especially if you could show another reason for doing so, such as making sufficient contribution to receive an employer matching contribution. (Though I have not specifically researched that issue.) If you are making regular payments on your child support, an arrearage would not stop you from making retirement contributions. Though it is certainly a good thing to eliminate your arrearage, in most circumstances child support arrears in Ohio do not accumulate interest, and if you are able to save retirement funds while still paying the support and arrearage payments you are ordered to, there would appear there may be a financial incentive to contribute to retirement accounts.