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Oklahoma
Child Support Laws
Oklahoma Child Support Guide :: Table of Contents
What Is Child Support?
Child support is an ongoing payment by a non-custodial parent to assist with the financial support of their children. Child support payments are often determined during the process of dissolution of a marriage through divorce, though the only requirements for requesting child support payments are establishment of paternity and maternity.
Child support is handled on a state level, and Oklahoma has a set of specific child support guidelines. On this page you can learn about how child support is calculated in Oklahoma, how custody split and extraordinary costs affect child support payments, and more.
Oklahoma Child Support Court Considerations Table
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Oklahoma Child Support Law Summary
Oklahoma uses the "income share" method for calculating child support payments, which is designed to ensure that both the custodial and non-custodial parents contribute to their child's upkeep.
Oklahoma's child support formula directly accounts for parents who share custody of a child, and support payment amounts are connected to the custody split. Other special situations accounted for under Oklahoma's child support law include childcare costs and extraordinary medical costs. These costs may be additions to the basic Oklahoma child support order.
What Determines Child Support?
There will be a rebuttable presumption in any judicial or administrative case for awarding child support, that the amount of the award resulting from the application of the following guidelines is the correct amount of child support to be awarded.The Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations assumes that all families have certain child-rearing expenses and includes in the basic child support obligation an average amount to cover these expenses for various percentages of the parents' combined income and number of children, comprised of housing, food, transportation, basic public educational expenses, clothing, and entertainment.
In cases where the child is in legal custody of the Department of Human Services or any other child-caring entity, public or private, the court may consider a deviation from the presumptive child support order if the deviation will assist in accomplishing a permanency plan for the child that has a goal of returning the child to the parent. The parents need to establish an adequate household or to otherwise adequately prepare themselves for the return of the child which would justify a deviation.
No deviation in the amount of the child support obligation should be made that would impair the ability of the obligee in the case under consideration to maintain adequate housing, food, and clothing for the children being supported by the order or to provide other basic necessities as deemed by the court.
The district or administrative court can deviate from the amount of child support indicated by the child support guidelines if
- the deviation is in the best interests of the child, and the amount of support indicated is unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances
- the parties are represented by the counsel and have agreed to a different disposition
- one party is represented by the counsel and the deviation benefits the unrepresented party
Oklahoma Child Support Calculation Formula Methods
Child support can be arranged out of court by a mutual support agreement between the parents, or can be decided in Oklahoma family court through a child support order. In Oklahoma, a number of factors are taken into account when determining the amount of child support to be paid in court. Here is an explanation of the two most common methods used to calculate basic child support amounts.
Income Share Method
Under the income share model, the court uses economic tables to estimate the total monthly cost of raising the children. The non-custodial parent pays a percentage of the calculated cost that is based on their proportional share of both parents' combined income.
Example: The non-custodial parent of one child has an income of $2,000 per month, and the custodial parent has an income of $1,000 per month. The court estimates that the cost of raising one child is $1,000 a month. The non-custodial parent's income is 66.6% of the parent's total combined income. Therefore, the non-custodial parent pays $666 per month in child support, or 66.6% of the total child support obligation.
Percentage Of Income Method
This method of calculating child support is simple - a set percentage of the non-custodial parent's income is paid monthly to the custodial parent to cover basic child support expenses. The percentage paid may stay the same, or vary if the non-custodial parent's income changes.
Example: The non-custodial parent of one child has an income of $2,000 per month. The court orders a flat percentage of 25% of the non-custodial parent's income to be paid in child support to the custodial parent. Therefore, the non-custodial parent pays $500 per month in child support. If the non-custodial parent's monthly income changes, the dollar amount they pay in child support will change as well.
Oklahoma Child Support Frequently Asked Questions
Oklahoma Child Support FAQ
- How does having shared custody of the child affect child support in Oklahoma?
- How are extraordinary medical costs treated by child support in Oklahoma?
- How are child care costs treated by child support in Oklahoma?
- Does child support cover college education expenses in Oklahoma?
- How is child support enforced in Oklahoma?
- What are child support arrears?
- How are child support payments taxed in Oklahoma?
How does having shared custody of the child affect child support in Oklahoma?
All states have a method of modifying the amount of child support owed in cases where the custody agreement provides for joint or shared custody of a child between both parents.
Oklahoma law accounts for shared custody of a child directly in the child support formula used to calculate payment amounts. This means that, in cases where custody is shared, the amount of child support paid by the paying parent will be reduced according to the amount of time they have custody of the child.
How are extraordinary medical costs treated by child support in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma has specialized guidelines for the sharing of a child's extraordinary medical care costs that are separate from, and in addition to, basic child support payments. Extraordinary medical costs are generally costs generated by things such as illness, hospital visits, or costly procedures such as getting braces.
Oklahoma treats extraordinary medical care costs as a "mandatory deduction" for basic child support. This means that if the non-custodial parent pays child care costs, the portion of the total monthly child care costs attributed to the custodial partner are deducted from the noncustodial partner's monthly child support payment. If the custodial parent pays for child care, the non-custodial parent must pay their share in addition to basic child support.
How are child care costs treated by child support in Oklahoma?
Due to the high costs of child care for a single payment, Oklahoma has specialized guidelines that consider child care costs separately from the general costs of raising a child for the purposes of calculating child support payments.
Oklahoma treats child care costs as a "mandatory deduction" for basic child support. This means that if the non-custodial parent pays child care costs, the portion of the total monthly child care costs attributed to the custodial partner are deducted from the noncustodial partner's monthly child support payment. If the custodial parent pays for child care, the non-custodial parent must pay their share in addition to basic child support.
Does child support cover college education expenses in Oklahoma?
While the state of Oklahoma has no explicit requirement for college expenses to be covered under child support, support for college expense by the non-custodial parent may be voluntarily agreed to by both parties, after which it is contractually enforceable.
How is child support enforced in Oklahoma?
In the state of Oklahoma, child support is enforced by the state child support agency. The state agency handles the location of non-custodial parents, enforcement of support orders, and the handling of unpaid child support arrears.
What are child support arrears?
Child support arrears are the amount of child support that is delinquent, or unpaid, by the noncustodial parent to the custodial parent. Child support arrears may be collected by the state through wage garnishment, bank levy. withholding of Oklahoma welfare benefits, or other collection methods.
How are child support payments taxed in Oklahoma?
Under IRS guidelines, the recepient of child support does not need to pay federal tax on child support payments, and the payer of child support cannot deduct their child support payments. This differs from the federal taxation of alimony payments, which are treated as taxable income by the receiver and are deductible by the payor. Oklahoma tax law may vary on tax treatment of child support.