The Importance of Seeking Legal Help Immediately

The Importance of Seeking Legal Help Immediately

Hello, my name is Brian L. Jackson and I’m a Tulsa father’s rights attorney. Today 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 both of those, with that situation under Title 443 of the Oklahoma statutes and it deals with, 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’s 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 county.

What to Do if Your Ex Denies Visitation

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, you want to get a lawyer involved right away who can file a motion to enforce. Motion to enforce gets heard much faster than a contempt citation and there are statutory rules about that that force it to the front of the line and court can order her to allow you visitation.

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’s 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.

Considerations for Resolving the Issue

A 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.

Ready for a Low-cost Strategy Session?

So long and short of it is don’t withhold child support because she’s withholding visitation. Do get a good Oklahoma child visitation enforcement attorney 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.