Oklahoma divorce law governs the legal dissolution of marriages in the state, establishing grounds for divorce, residency requirements, procedures for property division, child custody determinations, spousal support awards, and court processes that married couples must follow to end their marriages legally. Understanding Oklahoma divorce law helps individuals navigate the complex legal landscape of marriage dissolution, from knowing which grounds for divorce apply to their situation to comprehending how courts divide marital property and determine child custody arrangements. This comprehensive guide explains the essential aspects of Oklahoma divorce law, including both no-fault and fault-based grounds, waiting periods, automatic temporary injunctions, equitable distribution principles, and frequently asked questions that arise during divorce proceedings.
Grounds for Divorce in Oklahoma
Oklahoma divorce law recognizes both no-fault and fault-based grounds that allow courts to grant divorces.
No-Fault Ground: Incompatibility
Although there are 12 grounds for divorce in Oklahoma, only a few are commonly used. In almost all cases, incompatibility is the basis stated in the petition. You can get a divorce in Oklahoma without claiming that your spouse is at fault for reasons of "incompatibility."
This no-fault approach means the marriage is beyond any reasonable hope of reconciliation. If you get a divorce because of incompatibility and you have a minor child, you and your spouse must go to a class about the impact of divorce on your child. This educational program is required for parents in most divorce cases with children in Oklahoma and helps parents understand how divorce affects children.
Fault-Based Grounds for Divorce
The judge can also grant you a divorce in Oklahoma for certain fault-based grounds. Although there may be a legitimate legal basis for alleging one of the fault-based grounds, you will be expected to prove the allegation if the opposing party contests it.
Residency Requirements
To get a divorce in Oklahoma, you or your spouse must meet specific residency requirements established by Oklahoma divorce law.
Six-Month State Residency
The petitioner or the respondent in an action for divorce must have been an actual resident, in good faith, of the State of Oklahoma, for six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition. This requirement ensures Oklahoma courts have proper jurisdiction over divorce cases.
The only exception is if you are filing for a divorce based on the ground of insanity, and either spouse is in an institution outside of Oklahoma. In that case, the spouse who files for divorce must be a resident of Oklahoma for at least five years before filing for divorce.
Military Personnel Exception
Any person who has been a resident of any United States army post or military reservation within the State of Oklahoma for six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition may bring action for divorce or may be sued for divorce.
County Residency for Filing
The petition must be filed in the county where the petitioner has been a resident for the 30 days immediately preceding the filing of the petition or in the county in which the respondent is a resident. This 30-day county residency requirement determines the venue for the divorce case.
Waiting Periods and Timeline
Oklahoma divorce law establishes mandatory waiting periods before divorces can be finalized.
Ten-Day Waiting Period Without Children
If both parties are in agreement on the divorce and there are no children, a divorce may be granted 10 days after the filing of the petition. Your spouse must execute a waiver, which will include a waiver of process, and file that waiver with the court.
Ninety-Day Waiting Period With Children
In a divorce where there is a minor child involved, there is a 90-day waiting period from the date of service of the summons, the first date of publication or an entry of appearance by the respondent, whichever occurs first. The 90-day waiting period may be waived under certain circumstances.
Exceptions to Waiting Periods
The 90-day waiting period shall not apply to divorces filed for certain fault-based causes including abandonment for one year, extreme cruelty, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment for a felony, procurement of an invalid out-of-state decree, insanity for five years, conviction of child abuse crimes, or when a child has been adjudicated deprived due to either party's actions.
If your spouse hires an attorney and contests the action, the case could take longer than 90 days. Contested divorces may extend for many months or even years depending on the complexity of issues involved.
Automatic Temporary Injunction
Upon filing of a petition for dissolution of marriage and upon personal service or waiver of service, an automatic temporary injunction (ATI) goes into effect against both parties.
What the ATI Prohibits
The ATI is intended to protect both parties. It prohibits certain financial expenditures and modifications to certain accounts and policies, such as retirement accounts and insurance policies, and it prohibits the parties from hiding their children from each other and removing the children from Oklahoma without consent of the other parent.
Specifically, the ATI restrains parties from transferring, encumbering, concealing, or disposing of marital property without written consent or court order except in usual course of business, for retaining an attorney, or for necessities of life.
Required Disclosures
The ATI also requires the parties to exchange certain documents and information within 30 days of service. Reading and abiding by the terms of the ATI is crucial. A party violating the ATI is subject to contempt of court.
Property Division Under Oklahoma Divorce Law
Oklahoma divorce law follows equitable distribution principles when dividing marital property.
Equitable Distribution System
The court will, at the time of trial or settlement, fairly divide the marital property and debts, address child custody and visitation, and child support, and grant the divorce. It may award support alimony, attorney fees, and costs but does not always do so.
Oklahoma's equitable distribution law aims for what is fairest and most equitable, but not necessarily equal. This means division is determined based on the presented evidence and carried out in a manner that is fair, albeit not necessarily resulting in a 50/50 split.
Marital vs. Separate Property
Generally, assets owned prior to the marriage are retained by their original owner and are not subject to division. The court has authority to make orders for equitable division and disposition of property of the parties as may be proper, equitable, and just, having due regard to the time and manner of acquiring such property.
Child Custody Under Oklahoma Divorce Law
In awarding the custody of a minor, unmarried child, the court shall consider what appears to be in the best interests of the physical and menta,l and moral welfare of the child.
Joint Custody Options
The court may grant the care, custody, and control of a child to either parent or to the parents jointly. For purposes of Oklahoma law, joint custody means the sharing by parents in all or some of the aspects of physical and legal care, custody, and control of their children.
There shall be neither a legal preference nor a presumption for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody. When in the best interests of the child, custody shall be awarded in a way that assures the frequent and continuing contact of the child with both parents.
Policy of Equal Access
It is the policy of this state to ensure that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interests of their children. If requested by a parent, the court shall provide substantially equal access to the minor child to both parents at a temporary order hearing, unless the court finds that such shared parenting would be detrimental to such child.
Child Support
Any child shall be entitled to support by the parents until the child reaches eighteen years of age. If a dependent child is regularly and continuously attending high school, said child shall be entitled to support by the parents through the age of eighteen years.
Child Support Guidelines
There shall be a rebuttable presumption in any judicial or administrative proceeding for the award of child support that the amount of the award which would result from the application of the child support guidelines is the correct amount of child support to be awarded.
All child support shall be computed as a percentage of the combined gross income of both parents. The court may deviate from the amount of child support indicated by the guidelines if the amount would be unjust, inequitable, unreasonable, or inappropriate under the circumstances, or not in the best interests of the child.
Alimony and Spousal Support
Alimony is financial support paid by, or to, your spouse. You can get alimony with or without a divorce. Alimony can be paid all at once, or in installments, depending on what the judge thinks is fair.
Judicial Discretion in Alimony Awards
Judges may consider many different factors when determining whether to order alimony and how much alimony to order. The amount of alimony is generally up to the judge, and unlike many other states, the judge does not rely on a set formula or list of factors. The judge has "wide discretion," which means the judge has a lot of room to decide whether to give alimony and how much alimony to give.
Factors Courts Consider
Some common factors a judge may consider include whether you have shown that you need alimony to help financially adjust after the marriage ends, what status or station in life you've had, how much you and your spouse are each able to earn, your and your spouse's physical and financial conditions, the way you and your spouse lived while married (standard of living), and evidence of your ability to make money on your own and the time it will take for you to become able to make money on your own.
Temporary Orders
After a petition has been filed, either party may request the court to issue temporary orders regarding child custody, support or visitation, spousal maintenance, payment of debt, possession of property, attorney fees, and providing other injunctive relief proper in the circumstances.
Notice Requirements
The court cannot grant a temporary order for custody, child support, possession of property, alimony or exclusion from your home until your spouse has been served with notice of a hearing at least five days prior to a hearing on your request.
Emergency Orders
Under a limited set of circumstances and by following specific procedures, you may be granted an emergency order of custody without notice to your spouse if there is a likelihood that immediate and irreparable harm will occur to your children without such an order. A hearing must be set within 10 days of this emergency order.
Finality of Divorce
The divorce is final the day it is granted by the judge and the decree is filed with the court clerk. You are a single person once the judge pronounces you divorced.
Remarriage Restrictions
Oklahoma law prohibits remarriage or cohabitation with someone other than your now former spouse in the state of Oklahoma for a period of six months after the divorce is granted. During these six months, should you and your spouse decide to reconcile, a joint application can be filed in the court, and the decree will be set aside so long as neither party has remarried a third party during the interim.
Enforcement of Divorce Decrees
Oklahoma divorce law provides several options for violations of court orders including temporary orders and divorce decrees.
Contempt of Court
If a court finds a party guilty of contempt of court, the court may assess a jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to $500 or a combination of fines and jail time.
Financial Enforcement
A failure to pay money such as child support, alimony or debt can result in garnishment of wages and bank accounts and seizure of personal property. You may request an income assignment, which directs your spouse's employer to deduct wages from your spouse's paycheck to fund child support or alimony.
Frequently Asked Questions About Oklahoma Divorce Law
1. Do both spouses have to go to court?
No. Only one of the parties must go to court and give brief sworn testimony if the parties each sign an agreed decree and complete any requirements of the court or Oklahoma law, such as completion of a parenting class.
2. Is divorce tried before a jury?
No. In Oklahoma, all divorce cases are tried before a judge only. However, an action for contempt filed in a divorce proceeding may be tried by a jury if requested by the offending party.
3. What power does the divorce court have?
The court will, at the time of trial or settlement, fairly divide the marital property and debts, address child custody and visitation, and child support, and grant the divorce. It may award support, alimony, and attorney fees and cost,s but does not always do so.
Before You File a Divorce in Oklahoma
Oklahoma divorce law provides a comprehensive legal framework for dissolving marriages in the state. Understanding the grounds for divorce in Oklahoma, both no-fault incompatibility and various fault-based options including extreme cruelty, habitual drunkenness, gross neglect of duty, and abandonment, helps individuals determine the appropriate basis for their cases.
Meeting residency requirements of six months in the state and 30 days in the county where the petition is filed ensures Oklahoma courts have proper jurisdiction. Complying with mandatory waiting periods of 10 days for divorces without children or 90 days when minor children are involved, along with attending required parenting classes, keeps cases on track for timely resolution.
The automatic temporary injunction protects both parties during divorce proceedings, while equitable distribution principles ensure fair division of marital property and debts. Child custody determinations focus on the best interests of children, with policies encouraging frequent contact with both parents. Child support follows state guidelines based on combined parental income, while alimony awards rest largely in judicial discretion based on need and ability to pay.