In Oklahoma, every parent has a responsibility for the support of their children. Whether you are the mother, father, married, divorced or unwed, this responsibility begins when the child is born and continues until the child is at least eighteen years old.
Responsibility for Child Support
All parents are obliged to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter and education for their children. When you divorce or separate from your spouse, you or the court must make a determination as to how child support is to be allocated.
Typically, the parent who has primary custody of the children has the right to receive support from the noncustodial parent. If you share custody 50/50, the parent with the highest income will owe child support to the other parent. As for the duration of child support in Oklahoma, it typically lasts until the child is eighteen years of age, but payments can last longer if the child is still in school or has special needs.
How Child Support in Oklahoma is Calculated
Oklahoma courts use strict mathematical guidelines to determine the minimum amount of child support you must pay. The factors included in these calculations are mostly economic and not much different than those used to determine alimony and child custody.
Your child support obligation will be computed by plugging the gross incomes of both parents into a mathematical formula along with the number of days you spend with the child per month, how much you contribute towards the child’s health insurance, day care costs, etc. The result is the minimum amount of child support you will be responsible to pay, excluding any other factor that might influence the judge to order you to pay even more child support.
Gross Income for Child Support Purposes
What Oklahoma considers gross income for the purpose of calculating child support in Oklahoma is broad enough to include gifts, inheritances, insurance payouts, and even alimony from other relationships. Just about any form of income will be accounted for in the child support calculation.
On the other hand, there are other things that can reduce the amount of gross income used in your child support calculation. Typically, the amount of child support or alimony you receive from other cases, as well as any child support you were ordered to pay is excluded from gross income.
Estimating Child Support in Oklahoma
Only a judge can order child support in Oklahoma. If you want to estimate how much child support you will be ordered to pay, you can use the Oklahoma Child Support Calculator which is provided on the Oklahoma Department of Human Services website.
You should be aware, however, that the amount calculated by the Oklahoma Child Support Calculator is only an estimate. The actual amount of your child support obligation will vary depending upon other factors for which the calculator does not account.
Low-cost Consultation: Claremore Child Support Attorney
When there’s so much at stake, it’s crucial you discover all your options by talking to a skilled Claremore child support attorney. For ainitial strategy session with a knowledgeable Claremore child support attorney, call Wirth Law Office – Claremore at (918) 213-0950 today. If you prefer e-mail, send the Claremore lawyer your question by using the form at the right side of this page.
