Child Custody

How much time will I get the kids after a divorce?

The vast majority of American jurisdictions, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, presume that both biological parents are equally capable of caring for the child and that as such no gender based presumption for custody during divorce is said to exist.

The "Best Interest of the Child" is the prevailing presumption found in Oklahoma child custody divorce cases and most Jurisdictions in the United States today. The Best Interest Doctrine, rather than focusing on marital or gender based preferences looks to what the court determines to be in the Best Interest of the Child. The Best Interest doctrine is difficult to define. Among other factors, the Best Interest approach, during divorce, looks to maintaining the status quo in the parent child relationship and to keeping both parents involved to at least some degree in the children's lives. Additionally the Best Interest will look to which parent is better suited in terms of maturity and ability to care for the child in an environment which is conducive to the child's long term development.

Joint custody divorce in Oklahoma is shared legal custody of the children. The basic concept envisions a parenting arrangement in which both parents, acting in the child's best interest, share legal responsibility for childrearing. This responsibility can be limited or can be extended to all of the day to day decision making for the child. Joint custodial divorce custody involves the highest level of cooperation between the parents, and will be less likely to be upheld in those situations where the parents cannot cooperate in matters concerning childrearing.

Another version of shared custody divorce in Oklahoma is called Joint Custodial Custody. This involves the equal sharing of physical custody of the child between the two parents. A typical example of shared custodial custody is when the child lives with one parent for one half of the year and with the other parent for the remaining half of the year. The courts will scrutinize this arrangement to ensure that moving the child from one home to another will not be so disruptive to the child that his or her best interest is not served.