Oklahoma Law Prefers Joint Custody
Video Transcribed: Does custody always go to one parent in Oklahoma? I’m an attorney in Oklahoma James Wirth. And that’s the question that we have before us is does custody always go to one parent or the other? And the answer is no, it’s quite common to have joint custody. There’s a lot of different ways that joint custody can be done.
There’s simple joint custody where it’s 50/50 on all the major decisions, but when you have a joint child custody plan, which by law is required to accompany a joint custody order, that can be edited and can be formulated in such a way that the parties can have all kinds of different rules regarding decision-making and can fit those specific circumstances.
If your case settles before going to a trial, which happens most of the time, that means the parties can be in charge of what exactly those rules are. And whether one party has custody of the other, or whether it’s joint custody. If it goes to a trial, then the court’s going to be making those determinations.
And it’s likely that it’s not going to be quite as particular to the individuals if it goes to the judge. But also in Oklahoma, there is actually a law that provides for essentially joint custody and equal access as being the preferred method of parenting at a temporary order hearing.
And that would be an order that’s in place while a divorce or paternity action is still pending. The law’s particular the advising for divorce, but it does recommend joint custody provide a preference for joint custody, where the parents are getting along. Studies have suggested that that is what is best for the kids if the parties can work together.
So Oklahoma law is reflected by that, by having a presumption for it to see if it works prior to perhaps doing something different, if necessary, in a final order. So to answer the question, does one party always have to have custody?
No, it’s quite common for both parties to have custody through a joint child custody plan. If you’ve got questions about your specific case, you’re going to want to talk to an attorney confidentially about that. To get that scheduled with somebody in my office, you go online to makelaweasy.com.
