Parenting Time and Oklahoma Child Support

One important thing to understand about Oklahoma child support is that child support is not based only on the parents’ incomes. The amount of parenting time each parent has with the child also matters under the Oklahoma Child Support Guidelines.

Generally speaking, the parent who has primary custody of the child is the parent who receives child support. As parenting time becomes more evenly divided, the amount of child support may change because the parent exercising more time with the child is also assumed to be spending more money directly on the child.

Under the Oklahoma Child Support Guidelines, a parent who exercises more than 120 overnights per year is generally entitled to a parenting-time adjustment or credit. The idea behind the adjustment is that a parent who has the child more often is also paying more day-to-day expenses while the child is in that parent’s care.

When parenting time approaches an equal or near-equal schedule, such as approximately 182 or 183 overnights per year, child support may be reduced substantially. In some situations where both parents earn similar incomes and parenting time is divided equally, there may be little or no child support owed. However, if one parent earns substantially more than the other parent, child support may still be owed even under a 50-50 custody arrangement.

It is also important to understand that monthly child support is not the only expense divided between the parents. Certain additional expenses are usually allocated separately under the child support guidelines, including the children’s share of health insurance premiums and work-related child care expenses.

For example, if one parent pays $800 per month in child care expenses and the other parent is responsible for 50% of that expense, then the other parent may owe $400 per month toward child care in addition to or separate from the regular monthly child support calculation.

The important thing to remember is that parenting time does affect child support, but Oklahoma child support calculations involve many different variables. Income, overnights, health insurance, child care expenses, and other guideline adjustments can all affect the final calculation, which is why it is important to carefully review all of the numbers involved.