Child Support Cannot Be Waived, Unless…
Video Transcribed: Can you get out of paying child support to her? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I am a dads’ rights lawyer in Oklahoma with dads.law. And I want to talk about child support and whether or not there’s a way to get out of paying.
And the answer is it depends, like many things in law. Here’s where you will be unable to get out of it. If she’s custodial, you’re going to pay in most instances. You’ll pay something if you share joint custody and earn more than she does. If you have custody, she’s probably going to pay you. And if you earn less than she does, she will probably pay you. And these are all things to be aware of.
Generally speaking, child support cannot be waived. The only real exception that you can sometimes get a judge to sign off on if the Department of Human Services is not in the picture is if you have more or less equal time, more or less equal earnings, and you can convince a judge to deviate down to zero because each of you is going to assume approximately half of the cost of the child anyway. After all, you each have them half the time.
But as a general rule, if you think you’re getting out of paying child support, think again, unless you have custody. And since joint custody is typically the defacto position… Statutorily, it is the de facto position of the courts these days, assuming all things are equal.
If you earn more than her, you’re going to pay something. And I understand, guys, that may chap your ass. I get it. I really do. But just understand it’s an operation of law; it’s happening. And I say this because this is not a fight you probably want to waste many resources trying to have. After all, something will be ordered. You can mitigate child support. You can reduce the liability by having more time with your kids. But realistically, if you’re talking a 50-50 split and she earns less than you, there will be some kind of payment.
It may be a token amount, and there’ll be some kind of payment. Just be prepared for that. It’s probably not worth the fight to argue that you shouldn’t have to pay anything. Because if you have to take that up with a judge, more than likely, you’re going to lose that.
It’s not going to go your way. And you’re going to spend a lot of money trying to fight over pennies that you could be spending on something more important. So just be aware of that. And the reason I say this is less about defeatism than it’s about pragmatism.
If you were like most guys, you have limited resources, and you’re going into court with a list of important things. Hopefully, your kids are on that list, and having a relationship with your kids is on that list. If you’re looking at this video, I assume that’s the case.
And the kids should be more important than trying to get out of paying her money. So spend your money on having the court preserve your relationship with your children, not over-fighting over nickels. If you have questions about any of that, if you ever need a Tulsa child support attorney or a Dad’s Child Custody Lawyer in Tulsa Ok, you can find one at Dads.Law.
