Pay Your Child Support

Video Transcribed: My name is Brian L. Jackson, and I’m a Tulsa Father’s Rights attorney. And today, guys, we’re going to talk about some more common legal misconceptions.

Today, guys, I want to talk about whether or not you can withhold child support if she’s withholding visitation. And the short answer is, no you can’t. There’s a specific statute that deals with that situation under Title 43 of the Oklahoma statutes. And it basically says that child support and visitation are two completely separate issues.

If she’s not giving you your visitation, you still have an obligation to pay for your children. And if you’re not paying for your children, she still has an obligation to let you see them. In either situation, it’s punishable by contempt if the individual who has that duty fails to live up to that duty.

It is not advisable either to not pay your child support. Especially in Tulsa County, the child support contempt docket got the nickname, the rocket docket, for a reason.

They do not mess around, and you can find yourself being held in contempt real fast. And the judge on that docket routinely puts defendants in jail for non-payment. And contempt in Oklahoma carries up to six months in the county.

What you can do, though, if you do find yourself in a situation where you are dealing with an ex-girlfriend or an ex-spouse who’s not letting you see your kids, is you want to get a lawyer involved right away who can file a motion to enforce. A motion to enforce gets heard much faster than a contempt citation. There are statutory rules that force it to the front of the line. And a court can order her to allow you visitation.

And if you’re dealing with an extreme case, you may also want to talk to a lawyer, in addition to a motion to enforce and possible contempt charges, you may also want to talk about a motion to modify if there’s already a custody order in place.

Because if you’re dealing with an extreme situation where there are real problems and it’s not happening, then that can be grounds for changing custody arrangements. And it may be that that’s the best solution to your problem if she’s just not going to honor the order. The judge will look at who’s more likely to cooperate with the court’s orders, and who’s more likely to foster a relationship with the other parent.

Now, the hitch with that is that you need to be sure you communicate to the judge and that the judge believes you, that you will allow her to see the child. Because if the court is dealing with a situation where neither parent is likely to be cooperative, what you’re probably going to get is a very stringent visitation order with not a lot of wiggle room, and a judge who’s going to be super annoyed. And that may or may not actually get at resolving your problem.

So, long and short of it is, don’t withhold child support because she’s withholding visitation; do get a good lawyer; and if you find yourself in this situation, then you need to go to dads.law and talk to us because we can help you out.

My name is Brian L. Jackson and I’m an Oklahoma father’s rights attorney. We’ve been talking about common legal misconceptions. And today’s legal misconception was whether or not you can withhold child support in the event you’re denied visitation. Thank you very much, have a great day.