You’re Entitled to Certain Information after a Child Support Order Has Been Entered
Video Transcribed: The Periodic Exchange of Child Support Information in Oklahoma. I’m Tulsa lawyer James Wirth. That is the topic we’re discussing as part of a series on child support in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma child support guidelines, which is the periodic exchange of child support information. It is statutory. It’s part of the guidelines.
You can find it in title 43, section 18-I, subsection D. And what it says is that you’re entitled to certain information after a child support order has been entered from the other side to see if the factors that determine child support has changed.
Hence, you know when you need to file a modification. Has a losing party’s income gone up? That can be grounds for a modification, but you don’t know that unless you’re entitled to that information. Well, you are entitled to it per statute.
Let’s look at what the statute says. It says, “When a child support order is entered or modified, the parents may agree, or the district or administrative court may require a periodic exchange of information for an informal review and adjustment process.
When an existing child support order does not contain a provision which requires an informal review and adjustment process, either parent may request the other parent to provide the information necessary for the informal review and adjustment process.” So it’s not required to be part of your court order.
The court can order it; you can put those terms as part of entering a child support order, so it’s clear. However, even if it’s not in your court order, it’s still statutory. That’s what it says here, that you can still do it.
And what it says is, “The information shall be provided to the requesting party within 45 days of the request. And the requesting information can include verification of income, proof, cost of health or medical insurance of the children, and the current and projected childcare costs.
If the court has awarded the shared parenting time, documentation of past perspective overnight visits shall be exchanged.” And it notes, “That the exchange of requested information may occur once a year or less often by regular mail.”
So you can put specifics in your order that says how often you exchange this information, how quickly they have to provide it to you, and what information needs to be exchanged. But if it’s not in the order, you can still request it at least annually, requesting information on daycare costs, health insurance costs, and changes in income.
So with my firm, we’ve got a standardized form that we can send out anytime it’s needed to do so. And it requests updated W2, tax return, and pay stubs so we can look at the year to date and the current payment amount. Are we getting new overtime, anything like that? And the statute allows us to do that. They’ve got to respond within 45 days, and then we can determine whether it makes sense to file for a child support modification.
So if you have any questions about getting information from the other side periodically to know whether to file for a modification, you can do so under the statute. You’ll want legal advice if you’ve questions about your specific circumstances.
So if you’ve got questions about any circumstances related to Oklahoma child support or Oklahoma law in general, you’ll want to talk to an Oklahoma attorney about that privately, confidentially, so you can get legal advice.
