Family Law

Standard Visitation in Oklahoma Divorces

By Dan Nunley

In Oklahoma divorces, a standard visitation agreement generally provides for the child to be with the non-custodial parent for one weeknight every week, and on every other weekend. On visitation weekends, the non-custodial parent typically picks the child up from school or daycare on Friday afternoon and returns the child to the school or daycare on Monday morning. Extended or expanded visitation might include more equal amounts of time at each home, or blocks of time (a month in summer, all summer) instead of, or in addition to, standard visitation. The court is obligated not to favor a father or mother when issuing a custody and visitation decree.

It is generally best if both parents can work together and negotiate the terms of a visitation agreement, as opposed to having a judge make these decisions. This requires both parents to be cooperative, flexible, and thoughtful of the other parent’s wishes.

The terms of your child custody and visitation order not only dictate what time you spend with your child, but are taken into consideration in the calculation of child support payments. If the non-custodial parent has the child for more than the standard 120 nights a year, the court will decrease the monthly child support payment significantly, a matter that should be given careful consideration during negotiations.

And finally, visitation and child support are completely separate matters. Therefore, a custodial parent cannot withhold visitation because the non-custodial parent is behind or not paying child support, and the non-custodial parent cannot stop paying child support because the custodial parent is not allowing visitation. The remedy for a parent who is not being allowed visitation or who is not receiving child support is to bring the issue to the judge’s attention by the filing of a motion for contempt.

Full post as published by Oklahoma Family Law Blog on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).