Enforcing Child Support: Steps and Options for Tulsa Fathers
I’m Tulsa attorney James Wirth and that is the question that we have. So it sounds like there’s already an order in place. Some additional information provided is that the father’s had sole legal custody for the last 11 years and there’s a child support arrearage of $40,000. So there’s already an order in place so that the child support obligation is accruing more every month and interest on top of that is accruing more every month. And based on Oklahoma statute, if we’re talking child support, that continual amount that’s earned in back child support is automatically a judgment. You don’t have to file the request to be a judgment like other types of judgments that have an interest in things. That is automatic. Also, it’s never dischargeable in bankruptcy. So that amount is just growing and growing and growing but the question here they have is how do they get a DHS child support enforcement to enforce it for them?
Can I enforce the child support order on my own?
Well, you can put in the request to do so but these are government agencies, sometimes bureaucracies that are backlogged a lot that can take them time. So you can file that request and wait for them to do it but you don’t have to do that. You can do it on your own. And a lot of times you’re able to get prevailing party attorney’s fees on those because what you’re gonna wanna do is file a motion or I’m sorry, an application for contempt citation, alleging the rearage, setting it for arraignment and then at that hearing, request a determination of what the amount is and then find them guilty of contempt and then once, if you win on the contempt, you wanna file an application for your attorney’s fees and a lot of times those will be granted.
Should I seek legal assistance in enforcing the child support order?
So if the other party is violating the court order that’s requiring you to have to file a contempt and you pay an attorney to help you do that, well, you’ve got a pretty good argument that you should be entitled to reimbursement for those costs for the attorney because the only reason you needed it is because they didn’t follow the court order. You can make the request to DHS Child Support Enforcement if DHS is an interested party based on services being provided but then you’re kind of waiting on their timeline. You can call them to follow up but they’re gonna get to it when they get to it. There’s no guarantees that they will get to it but what you can do is file it on your own. You’ve got the right to do that. Do you have the ability to do that? Maybe you do, in which case, go for it. If not, talk to a Tulsa child custody attorney.
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To get an appointment scheduled with an attorney at Wirth Law Office, you can go online to MakeLawEasy.com or call us at 918-879-1681. We can help guide you through the process of enforcing a child support order and ensure that your rights are protected.
