Overview of Child Support

Child support is the money paid by one parent to the other for the support of the parents' children. It can be approximately 20-30 % of a person's gross monthly income, and thus no small matter.

Child support is based on both parents' income and formula set out by Oklahoma law. The greater both parents' income the larger the base child support number. However, there are many factors that affect what your final child support payment will be and how you will receive it or pay it.

In order to calculate a child support obligation you should know:

Each parent's monthly pre-tax income (includes overtime, bonuses, vaction pay, etc.)
The monthly cost of the child's portion of the health insurance premium, if one of you provides health insurance for your child.
The monthly cost of any work or education-related child care.
How many actual overnights each parent cares for the child.
And other special expenses related to the child.

The only legal way to set a child support payment is with the approval of a judge. Parents cannot make private agreements about paying or not paying child support. This is important because when parents are not married, the parent with custody is entitled to up to five years of back child support as determined by the court. This means that a private agreement that underestimates child support provides no protection to the paying parent, who then must pay a large amount of back support with interest.

Our office deals with a regular basis with setting and modifying child support. We can give you a very accurate estimate of child support in your case if you can provide to us the above-listed information. We also deal effectively with the Department of Human Services Child Support Enforcement, and represent many client before the Child Support Enforcement administrative courts.

If you have questions, we encourage you to set up a consultation and we will be able to tell you much more about child support in your case.

Attorney fees in Child Support Cases

Child support cases often involve other issues related to child custody and visitation and divorce. We generally handle child support matters on a hourly fee, which means you pay for the amount of time devoted to your case. We do handle some child enforcement actions on a flat fee basis. To learn more about flat fee matters visit our flat fee matters page on this site.

Evan Taylor Law Office, PLLC

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