Determining whether shared custody is in the best interest of a child in Oklahoma, as in any jurisdiction, depends on various factors and circumstances surrounding the child’s well-being and the ability of both parents to provide a stable and nurturing environment. Oklahoma, like many states, generally encourages shared custody arrangements when they deem it to be in the best interest of the child.
In Oklahoma, courts consider several factors when determining custody arrangements, including:
The Wishes Of Your child Or Child Preference
This is a powerful factor in determining the best interest of your children. What’s key in this factor is that the preference your child expresses is without undue influence from either parent. If you are truly exploring what your child wants and are willing to do what ever it takes to accomplish this you must take a hard look at child preference. Understand that if you have a trial in Tulsa family court child preference is a very powerful tool useful to the court when awarding either joint custody or full custody.
Just like what’s written above the courts will focus on whether or not the child’s preference is given without the influence from a parent. If a parent is coaching a child or alienating the child against the other parent the preference is not truly the child’s. In fact if the court finds a parent negatively influencing the child against the other parent this could cost that parent custody giving sole custody to the other parent. Another thing to consider about child preference is the age of your child. Courts in Oklahoma focus less on a chronological age than the actual maturity of the child. 12 years old is a guide but only a guide. If a child is either less or more mature for their age the courts will take this into account.
The Geographic Proximity Of The Parents’ Homes
The need for parents to live close to each other so they can share custody seems so obvious but is very often overlooked. If you think about it shared custody or 50/50 time requires both parents to be extremely active in the day to days life’s of their children From picking them up from school on dropping them off in the morning to simply shuttling the children back and forth between parents requires close proximity. It goes without saying that if parents live a distance from each other the role of shared parenting becomes very difficult. Now, if parents don’t live in the same state forget about it. In this case parents should be thinking about extended summers and other nontraditional visitation schedules.
Speak With A Tulsa Custody Lawyers Near You
Oklahoma shared custody starts out with it being the presumptive form of custody by the family law courts in Oklahoma. Whether it is or is not takes some serious thinking and weighing all the factors that relate to child custody. The law for joint or sole custody looks at the best interest of your children which includes not just looking at the parents but also considering the kids themselves. Get a Free and confidential consultation with a Oklahoma Custody attorney from Tulsa Divorce Attorneys and Associates. Call us at 539.302.0303 or ask a free online question today.