Let’s talk about unemployment. This is one that I get a lot. You get parents that get the idea that because the other one’s unemployed, that makes them an unsuitable placement for children. Well, that’s not an automatic one-to-one deal. The court may care to some extent about their employment, it’s certainly relevant to the issue of calculating child support, and it can go towards establishing need in the context of an alimony claim or an attorney’s fee motion. But for the purposes of child custody, unemployment in and of itself doesn’t suggest the person’s unsuitable placement for children.

Now, if you have somebody where they’re chronically unemployed and they’re like a couch-surfer, they don’t have stable housing, or all they want to do is sit on the couch and get high and play video games, that’s another situation and that might be something the court would consider. But the mere fact that the person doesn’t have a job… The courts in Oklahoma do recognize the idea of a stay-at-home parent and the court will also look at it from the standpoint of if the other parent works and can pay child support and the unemployed one is the primary caregiver or otherwise is a good placement, then what’s probably going to come out of making an issue out of employment is, well, you have a job and you make money so you can pay child support and help support those kids. So it’s not automatic that I get custody because I’m the one with the job.

If you have questions about that or you’re dealing with a custody issue and you need help from an Oklahoma child custody lawyer, one place you can find help is at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable.