Resource Hub
Family Law Articles & Resources
These articles provide general information about Oklahoma family law topics. They are not a substitute for legal advice about your specific situation.
Divorce & Separation
If I paid down the mortgage on my spouse’s house acquired before marriage, do I have a claim to any of the value of the house?
It is a common question in divorce for a spouse to ask if my spouse owned the house before we got married, does that mean I get nothing from the house in the divorce? We cannot say for sure, but we do need to look at the matter closely because there are some valid claims…
Can My Spouse Make Me Leave Our Home?
Can My Spouse Make Me Leave the Marital Home? Usually not. One of the most common disputes at the beginning of a divorce is who gets to stay in the house while the case is pending. Often both spouses want to remain there, and both may have legitimate reasons for wanting to stay. What surprises…
Should I Get a Divorce?
Should I get a Divorce? The Limits of Legal Advice: Why Your Lawyer Cannot Decide Whether Divorce Is “Worth It” for You One of the hardest parts of divorce is that many decisions are not purely legal decisions. A person considering divorce may come to a lawyer hoping for clarity. They may want to know…
Who gets the house in a divorce?
One of the most important questions many people have is what happens to their house in a divorce. This is the house that you’ve saved for, searched for, and expected to grow old in. It is also often the most valuable asset, and if it has a mortgage, it is the single biggest monthly expense….
Custody & Parenting
My Ex Won’t Follow the Custody Order. What Can I Do in Oklahoma?
Is your ex ignoring the custody order, or has the order stopped working? In Oklahoma those are two different problems with two different fixes. When people come to me upset about a custody order, the first thing they usually say is that the other parent is violating it. Sometimes that’s true. Often it isn’t quite…
Can I Move With My Child After an Oklahoma Custody Order?
Just because you have custody of a child does not necessarily mean that you can move the child wherever you choose. Under Oklahoma law, a move of the child’s primary residence more than 75 miles away for 60 days or longer is generally treated as a relocation. The relocating parent ordinarily must provide written notice,…
How Do I Change a Custody Order in Oklahoma?
A child custody order can be changed in Oklahoma, but the court will not usually modify custody just because one parent wants a different schedule or believes the original order was unfair. Once a custody order is entered, the parent asking for the change generally has to show that something important has changed since the…
We’re Separated — Can My Spouse Take Our Child and Not Bring Them Back?
Over the past twenty years, I have had numerous conversations with anxious people who are married with children but separated. The children sometimes go back and forth, and every time they do — when tensions are high — the parent thinks, “What is going to happen if he or she refuses to send them back?…
Support & Financial Issues
How Much Will My Case Cost?
This is the second most common question we get in our office on a daily basis, besides the question, “How long does a divorce take in Oklahoma?” Isn’t This an Easy Question? It seems like it this question should be easy to answer, right? Probably not if you have ever been through a divorce or if you are a lawyer because you understand that not all divorces are the same since people are different.
Parenting Time and Oklahoma Child Support
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…
How do I calculate income for child support?
In Oklahoma, we have an official formula under state law to figure child support. This formula is based on three main factors: Number of children, Incomes of the parents, How many overnights the children spend at each parent’s home, Expenses for the children. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services offers a free Online Child Support…
How do you modify support alimony?
Support alimony can be modified. A party can ask the court to modify or terminate a support alimony award by filing a motion with the court. The judge must then hear the evidence and determie whether there has been the kind of change in circumstances that supports a modification under the law. The conditions that…
Children, Divorce and Taxes: Part 2
In the previous article of Children, Divorce and Taxes, I discussed the Internal Revenue Service rules for which parent can claim the children on their income taxes without a court order. In this section we look at the what happens if there is an order that awards the tax exemption to the non-custodial parent.
Children, Divorce and Taxes
Do you have uncertainty regarding your taxes because of a recent divorce with children? According to the IRS, there were 146,243,886 individual income tax returns in 2012, so we want to ensure that you are confident in your accuracy when filing your taxes. Our three part tax series will answer your common questions regarding children, divorce and taxes.
Court Orders & Modification
My Ex Won’t Follow the Custody Order. What Can I Do in Oklahoma?
Is your ex ignoring the custody order, or has the order stopped working? In Oklahoma those are two different problems with two different fixes. When people come to me upset about a custody order, the first thing they usually say is that the other parent is violating it. Sometimes that’s true. Often it isn’t quite…
Can I Move With My Child After an Oklahoma Custody Order?
Just because you have custody of a child does not necessarily mean that you can move the child wherever you choose. Under Oklahoma law, a move of the child’s primary residence more than 75 miles away for 60 days or longer is generally treated as a relocation. The relocating parent ordinarily must provide written notice,…
How Do I Change a Custody Order in Oklahoma?
A child custody order can be changed in Oklahoma, but the court will not usually modify custody just because one parent wants a different schedule or believes the original order was unfair. Once a custody order is entered, the parent asking for the change generally has to show that something important has changed since the…
How do you modify support alimony?
Support alimony can be modified. A party can ask the court to modify or terminate a support alimony award by filing a motion with the court. The judge must then hear the evidence and determie whether there has been the kind of change in circumstances that supports a modification under the law. The conditions that…
Court Process
Can I Move With My Child After an Oklahoma Custody Order?
Just because you have custody of a child does not necessarily mean that you can move the child wherever you choose. Under Oklahoma law, a move of the child’s primary residence more than 75 miles away for 60 days or longer is generally treated as a relocation. The relocating parent ordinarily must provide written notice,…
What Is Mediation in an Oklahoma Family Law Case?
Mediation is an informal settlement process that is used in many types of court cases. In family law cases, it has become almost universally required before the judge will hold a final trial. The basic idea is simple: mediation gives the parties an opportunity to resolve the issues they disagree about without having the judge…
10 Things Not to Do During a Family Law Case
Each of these things will make it harder for you to win your case, and each is guaranteed to make your case harder, more expensive, and less likely to produce good results. Some attorneys have even been known to do little dances in their offices when the opposing side does one of these things!
