Child Custody

A Tulsa child custody dispute is one of the most contentious areas between divorcing spouses in Oklahoma.

Emotions run high during any Tulsa divorce, but when we feel that our children’s well being may be jeopardized by our ex-spouse, our emotions can run between anxiety and outright fear, especially if substances are being abused by the other spouse or there has been a past history of verbal or physical aggression or violence.

In a child custody dispute, you need an experienced Tulsa child custody attorney.

When in Doubt, Document Everything

You cannot always be sure what a court might find persuasive and important when it comes to an Oklahoma child custody dispute. So it is best to document everything.

Give the documentation to your Tulsa child custody attorney. He or she will know what the courts will want to see.

Because we forget details and dates, it is always a good idea to keep a journal. Journal all contacts between your children and your ex. This includes pickup and drop-off times, and any missed appointments or late arrivals.

Chronicle how your child reacts to seeing the other parent, and how the child appears to you when returned. It is especially important to chronicle any mood changes, emotional outbursts, or changes in behavior that you observe either in the child or in the other parent if you happen to witness them.

Children may not always talk about what goes on while they are with the other parent, but if you see a formerly secure child begin to exhibit regressive behaviors such as bed wetting or thumb-sucking, this should be documented with as much detail as possible.

If your child is verbal and has complaints about the other parent or about time spent with that parent, make sure and include those in your journal. Be sure and enter items into your journal as they occur.

The contemporaneous chronicling of events is persuasive to the court during a child custody dispute. So write things down as they occur instead of entering them once a week or month.

Do not prompt your child to talk about the other parent, but do make note of their spontaneous comments. Avoid talking to your child about the Tulsa child custody dispute. You want to normalize the process as much as possible for your child.

Additional Child Custody Dispute Considerations

Sometimes an abusive ex will use friends or family members to pick up and drop off. Journal any abusive comments or behaviors that your ex’s friends or family members engage in. Journal whether these occur in the presence of your children.

Make sure and document your expenses. Keep invoices and receipts, especially for things that you purchase for your child such as clothing, medical expenses, and school supplies.

Include any expenses for extra-curricular activities that your child engages in. These are important in a Tulsa child custody dispute. They show continued care and nurturance of your child.

Finally, make sure that you note the reactions and comments of teachers, friends, and extended family members regarding your child. Sometimes, teachers are the first to be aware of a problem as the child makes the transition between households. If a child is hungry or disheveled when he or she is dropped off at school by your ex, these observations may be persuasive in a child custody dispute.

Low-cost Initial Consultation: Tulsa Child Custody Attorney

Your choice of an Oklahoma divorce attorney is critical, especially regarding any issues about child custody in Tulsa. Before you retain our family law attorneys, you are invited to have a initial, confidential, no-obligation consultation to help you determine whether our family law services can meet your particular needs.

For a initial consultation with a Tulsa child custody attorney about your concerns, call the Divorce Law Office of Tulsa today at 918-924-5526.

Divorce is a stressful time for all families in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a time of intense feeling and many questions and uncertainties.

If children are involved, the matters of child custody and support must be addressed and resolved prior to the end of the divorce process. There are two types of custody in Oklahoma.

Physical custody refers to time that a parent is physically with a child. Physical custody in Oklahoma can be either joint or sole custody.

Legal custody refers to decisions made about a child’s activities, health care, religious upbringing, schooling and the like. Legal custody in Oklahoma can also be either joint or sole.

What is Legal Custody in Oklahoma?

Since a child may not legally consent, the parent or parents who hold legal custody for their children may consent for them.

The holder of the custody may consent to such things as health care on behalf of the child, or may consent to a school field trip. That parent can make decisions about the child’s religious upbringing. A court may award a parent sole legal custody or joint legal custody.

Factors For the Court to Consider

In deciding matters of custody, the court will look to a number of factors before making a decision about whether to award sole or joint custody to the parent or parents requesting it. First and foremost, the court will look to the issue of what is in the best interests of the child.

This may include looking at the desires and needs of the child, the presence or absence of violence and substance use and abuse in the home, the stability of the parent or parents seeking custody, and the presence or absence of support services.

If the court determines that a parent has a substance addiction, it is likely that the court will less likely to award custody to the addicted parent. The presence of an addition creates a presumption that the parent is not fit. The presumption can be overcome by evidence to the contrary. The court may also order that parents undergo chemical testing or an evaluation during the custody process.

In addition, in determining whether to award sole or joint legal custody, the court may look to see whether the divorcing couple can continue to work amicably to advance their child’s best interests. If they cannot, then it might be better for one parent to retain sole legal custody in Oklahoma.

Low-cost Initial Consultation: Tulsa Child Custody Attorney

Your choice of a Tulsa divorce attorney is critical, especially regarding any issues about custody in Oklahoma. Before you retain our family law attorneys, you are invited to have a initial, confidential, no-obligation consultation to help you determine whether our family law services can meet your particular needs.

For a initial consultation with a Tulsa child custody attorney about your concerns, call the Divorce Law Office of Tulsa today at 918-924-5526.

As parents move toward a divorce in Tulsa, there are many decisions to be made. Some of the most difficult decisions to be made concern the children in the marriage.

Physical custody in Oklahoma refers to caring for the child when he or she is with you.

Defining Child Custody in Tulsa

Custody refers to all of the duties and obligations that a parent has toward a child: to shelter, feed, and clothe a child; to provide an education and take care of a child’s medical, dental, and other needs, and to nurture that child toward adulthood.

There are two types of child custody under Oklahoma law: physical and legal custody.

Likewise, custody — whether physical or legal — can be shared by the parents or one of the parents may be in charge of those duties (sole custody).

What is Physical Custody in Oklahoma Family Law?

It is the type of physical custody held by the parent that dictates the breadth and depth of their duties with regard to the child. If you and your ex-spouse share physical custody in Oklahoma, that means that the child lives with each of you for some part of the year and you each share in the daily lives and decisions regarding your children.

This might mean that your children spend a week in your home and then a week in your ex-spouse’s home on an alternating basis. This might also mean that your children live in one house and you and your ex-spouse trade time living in the house with your children. In either case, it probably means that you and your ex are able to work together toward your the care of your child or children.

If either you or your ex-spouse has sole physical custody in Oklahoma, that parent is usually referred to as the custodial parent. The child lives with the custodial parent, perhaps for much of the time, subject to reasonable visitation or parenting time by the non-custodial parent.

When the child is with the non-custodial parent, that parent has physical custody during the time child spends with that parent, but the non-custodial parent must respect the other parent’s decisions with regard to schooling, healthcare, and religious upbringing.

Additional Considerations

The custodial parent generally may not interfere with the activities engaged in by the non-custodial parent during that parent’s time with the child.

If you are the non-custodial parent, you have physical custody of your child during that time. However, that custody has some limitations.

For instance, a non-custodial parent may not seek to undermine the decisions made by the custodial parent. The custodial parent could challenge your right to visitation or other parenting time if you undermine or severely interfere with the custodial parent’s wishes, such as denying certain healthcare directives, keeping a child out of school or even aggressively undermining a parent’s religious instruction.

Low-cost Initial Consultation: Tulsa Child Custody Attorney

Your choice of a Tulsa divorce attorney is critical, especially regarding any issues about physical custody in Oklahoma. Before you retain our family law attorneys, you are invited to have a initial, confidential, no-obligation consultation to help you determine whether our family law services can meet your particular needs.

For a initial consultation with a Tulsa child custody attorney about your concerns, call the Divorce Law Office of Tulsa today at 918-924-5526.