Oklahoma Blog: Family Law and Lawsuits

 

Shared parenting and joint custody refer to child custody agreements in which the care of the child is equally shared or more than considerably shared between the biological parents.

According to divorcenet.com, Oklahoma has had child support guidelines since 1987. Those guidelines “determine the amounts of support that parents at particular family income levels are presumed to spend on the their children.”

Found from divorcenet.com, the Oklahoma Child Support Guidelines are based on:

• Actual monthly income or income equivalent to a forty hour work week
• Average monthly income while employed during the previous three years
• Minimum wage paid for a forty-hour work week
• Imputed monthly income for a person with comparable education, training and experience
• For the self-employed, gross income is defined as “gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses required for self-employment or business operations.”

According to the Oklahoma Child Support Guidelines, shared parenting schedules a “standard” time-sharing, visitation schedule. Each parent has physical custody of a child overnight for more than 120 nights each year.

If one of the two parents, known as the obligor, shares the child for more than 120 visitation nights per year, a complicated formula is used to determine the child support for the other parent. The State of Oklahoma child support law guidelines presumes the obligor parent is spending more to care for the child so the formula is used to adjust child custody payments. The more overnights, the greater adjustment.

So what if you are above the guidelines listed? According to divorcenet.com, “The child support guideline schedule goes to $15,000 per month total combined income. For parents who make more than that, child support is computed using the maximum from the guideline schedule.”

Courts have established different methods for support when dealing with high-income cases. Child support is based solely on the child’s needs. Child needs include: food, shelter, clothing, dental, medical, activities, etc.

To understand shared parenting in Oklahoma in more detail please refer to Atkins and Markoff Family Law Attorneys. Please contact us to review your case today.

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Comments (4)

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written by lynn, March 09, 2010

What if a parent is not doing anything they are suppose to be doing? Doesn't pay child support and moved in with his mom and has a new girl friend that is pregnant and living with him. He calls the mother up and tells her he wants the baby and then tells her that she can't stop him and he doesn't have to bring her back...Now remember he doesn't pay child support or buy anything for this child...Does she have to let him take her? When they lived together he would call her and have her come back to the house to get the baby because she was crying and he was to busy to find out what the problem was...He only wants her when she has something planned for her & the baby to do...

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written by Oklahoma Family Attorney, March 09, 2010

Lynn,

Thank you for your comment.
For purposes of this post, I will presume that you and the father were
never married. By law, an unwed mother in Oklahoma has exclusive
custody, care, and control over a child until a court orders otherwise.
If there has not been a paternity action filed, you have some options.
First, you can go through DHS to get a paternity action filed and child
support established. That process will not determine any issue of
custody or visitation, which has to be done through a paternity action
filed in District Court. You have the option of denying him visitation
altogether, however, this presumably will spark his own filing in
District Court to get joint custody and visitation with the child.
Please call or email us for additional information or assistance.

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written by lynn, March 13, 2010

Thank you so much for this information...I'm going to call DHS then go from there....If I have anymore questions I will be contacting this office directly...Again Thank You

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written by Teresa, March 26, 2010

I have a question about child support law. I was told, but can not find the statute, that Oklahoma Law Makers passed a law that as of Jan 1, 2010 that someone who is in arrears in child support can no longer be sentenced to jail time or prison time?
Is this true?

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