You Could File for Child Support Through DHS
Video Transcribed:
Do you have to be divorced in Oklahoma in order to get child support? I’m Tulsa attorney, James Wirth, and I’m answering frequently asked questions. And that’s the question that came in. If you want to get Oklahoma child support, do you have to be or get divorced? And the answer is, no, you don’t. If you’re married and you have kids together, there are other ways to get child support.
You could file for child support through DHS. They will do child support proceedings without you filing for a divorce or legal separation. If you’re doing this on your own, you can file for a legal separation and get any type of order that you would normally get through a divorce.
The only difference is, is that it doesn’t dissolve the marriage. So you would still be married, but you could get an order giving you custody, perhaps granting the other side visitation, and then an order for child support that then is enforceable either through income assignment, contempt, or other ways to get paid through child support.
Also, if you’re not married, never been married, you can still get child support, obviously. If you’ve got a kid together, you can file a paternity action and request child support through that, or you could file a custody case for child support, or you could go through DHS administrative proceedings for child support.
If your circumstances fall in one of those, you have additional questions, don’t just take this general information, talk to a Tulsa family attorney. You can give my office a call. Go to makelaweasy.com.
