Every parent has a legal obligation to support his or her biological children, marital or non-marital, through paying child support in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Learn how child support is determined and what happens when paternity is contested in Oklahoma.
Child Support in Stillwater
Child support must normally be paid until the child reaches the age of 18, but it can extend beyond that if the child:
- lives at home;
- is a student;
- is financially dependent on his or her parents; or
- is physically or mentally disabled — in which case child support may last the child’s entire life.
Child support in Stillwater is normally linked to child custody. Usually, the custodial parent will be entitled to receive child support from the non-custodial parent. Even if the parents share custody equally, the parent with highest income will owe child support to the other.
In Oklahoma, parents can agree on the terms of child support on their own and have these terms approved by a judge as part of a separation agreement or divorce decree. When they cannot come to an agreement on the terms of child support, the court will determine the arrangement for them.
In making this determination, the court will employ a set of specific guidelines that take into account such things as the income of each parent, the number of children to provide for, the cost of daycare and health insurance, as well as special needs like tutoring and transportation from one parent to another for visitation.
Contested Paternity
Child support is difficult to avoid. In the eyes of the state, your responsibility to support your children is not lessened by the fact that you are not now or have never been married to the other parent.
Thus, for instance, if you are an absentee father and the single mother of your child has applied for financial assistance, the state will do whatever it can to find you and obtain a court order to obligate you to pay child support.
If you are married, the court will make the assumption that the husband is the biological father of the children, until proven otherwise. In order to dispute this assumption and avoid being obligated to pay child support for children whom are not yours, you will need to provide conclusive DNA evidence to the contrary.
The state, the child, or the mother can also initiate a paternity suit against you at any time to establish that you are indeed the biological father and responsible for paying child support in Stillwater. This also requires conclusive DNA evidence.
Confidential Consultation: Stillwater Child Support Attorney
For more information on your issues concerning your obligation to pay child support, contact us today. Our Stillwater family lawyer can help with child support along with other family law issues.
For a initial, no-obligation consultation with a Stillwater child support attorney, call 405-673-1600 today.
You may also submit a quick question using the form at the top right of this page.
Either way you reach out to us, the Stillwater attorney will promptly reply to your question.
