Oklahoma Child Custody Agreement

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Oklahoma legislated the absence of a presumption rather than leaving it unsaid. 43 O.S. 112(C)(2) provides that there shall be neither a legal preference nor a presumption for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody. That rules out the rule some states have, where the fact of agreement itself raises a presumption in the parents' favor. In Oklahoma the arrangement stands or falls on the best interests of the child under 43 O.S. 109(A), whether the parents agreed or not.

2. 2

   Asking for joint custody creates a filing duty for both parents. 43 O.S. 109(C) provides that if either or both parents request joint custody, the parents shall file with the court their plans for the exercise of joint care, custody, and control, and the plan and affidavit are filed with the divorce or legal separation petition or after it is filed. One parent's request is enough to trigger the duty, and the parents may file jointly or file competing separate plans. There is no equivalent filing requirement in a sole custody case, so Oklahoma has no general plan requirement for every case involving children.

3. 3

   Each parent has to swear to the plan personally. Under 43 O.S. 109(C), the plan must be accompanied by an affidavit signed by each parent stating that the parent agrees to the plan and will abide by its terms. That is why an Oklahoma joint custody plan cannot be submitted on one parent's signature alone, and it is the clearest practical difference between a plan and an ordinary settlement document.

4. 4

   The court writes the order, not the parents. 43 O.S. 109(D) directs the court to issue a final plan based upon the plan submitted by the parents with appropriate changes deemed by the court to be in the best interests of the child, and adds that the court also may reject a request for joint custody and proceed as if the request for joint custody had not been made. The court's final plan is the operative order, so a submitted plan is a draft rather than a settlement. 43 O.S. 120.3(C)(2) reinforces the point by confirming the court's exclusive jurisdiction to determine fundamental issues of custody, visitation, and support, and once there is an order, 43 O.S. 111 provides for indirect contempt for disobedience.

5. 5

   The document is not called a parenting plan and Oklahoma does not use parenting time. The statutory instrument at 43 O.S. 109(C) is a plan for the exercise of joint care, custody, and control, which 43 O.S. 109(B) explains as the sharing by parents in all or some of the aspects of physical and legal care, custody, and control of their children. Contact with the noncustodial parent is visitation. 43 O.S. 109(C) prescribes what the plan must detail, including but not limited to physical living arrangements for the child, child support obligations, medical and dental care for the child, school placement, and visitation rights, which is a floor rather than a form and leaves holidays, transportation, and communication to the parents to add.

6. 6

   Oklahoma has no enumerated list of best interest factors. 43 O.S. 109(A) states the standard on its own, directing the court to consider what appears to be in the best interests of the physical and mental and moral welfare of the child, and Title 43 sets out no checklist to go with it. What exists instead is a scatter of separate duties: 43 O.S. 112(C)(3)(a) requires the court to consider, among other facts, which parent is more likely to allow frequent and continuing contact, 43 O.S. 112(C)(3)(b) and 112(C)(4) forbid any preference based on gender or on public, private, or home schooling, 43 O.S. 113 governs the child's preference with a rebuttable presumption that a child of twelve or older can form an intelligent preference while providing that the court is not bound by the child's choice, and 43 O.S. 112.2(A) makes eight circumstances mandatory considerations in every custody case.

7. 7

   Domestic violence raises a presumption that reaches agreed arrangements. Under 43 O.S. 109(I)(1), a determination by the court that child abuse, domestic violence, stalking, or harassment has occurred raises a rebuttable presumption that sole custody, joint legal or physical custody, or any shared parenting plan with the perpetrator is detrimental and not in the best interest of the child. The trigger is a court determination rather than a conviction, and since 2024 the definition at 43 O.S. 109(I)(2)(b) expressly includes coercive control involving physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, economic, or financial abuse. Because the presumption runs against any shared parenting plan with the perpetrator, filing a jointly agreed plan does not neutralize it, and where there has been abuse, stalking, or a protective order this is a situation to raise with a lawyer rather than settle on a form.

Oklahoma Requirements for Child Custody Agreement

• No Preference or Presumption, 43 O.S. 112(C)(2)

  There shall be neither a legal preference nor a presumption for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody. An agreed arrangement therefore carries no built in advantage, and the document should be drafted to stand on the child's best interests under 43 O.S. 109(A).

• Joint Custody Plan Required on Request, 43 O.S. 109(C)

  If either or both parents request joint custody, the parents shall file with the court their plans for the exercise of joint care, custody, and control, filed with the divorce or legal separation petition or after it is filed. One parent's request triggers the duty for both, and the plan may be filed jointly or as competing separate plans.

• Affidavit From Each Parent, 43 O.S. 109(C)

  The plan must be accompanied by an affidavit signed by each parent stating that the parent agrees to the plan and will abide by its terms. Both affidavits are needed, so the plan cannot be submitted on one parent's signature.

• Prescribed Plan Contents, 43 O.S. 109(C)

  Any plan shall include but is not limited to provisions detailing the physical living arrangements for the child, child support obligations, medical and dental care for the child, school placement, and visitation rights. The list is open, so treat it as a minimum and add holidays, transportation, communication, and information sharing.

• The Court's Final Plan, 43 O.S. 109(D)

  The court issues a final plan based upon the plan submitted by the parents with appropriate changes deemed by the court to be in the best interests of the child, and may reject a request for joint custody and proceed as if the request had not been made. The court's plan is the order, so the filed document is a draft.

• Statutory Vocabulary, 43 O.S. 109(B)

  Joint custody and joint care, custody, and control mean the sharing by parents in all or some of the aspects of physical and legal care, custody, and control of their children. Oklahoma uses custody, joint custody, sole custody, and visitation, and does not use parenting time or the term parenting plan for the parents' filing.

• Modification and Termination, 43 O.S. 109(E), (F), and (G)(1)

  Parents may modify the plan by agreement, but the modification must be filed and the court approves it only if it determines the modifications are in the best interests of the child. One parent alone may apply to modify, and the court may terminate a joint custody decree on the request of one or both parents or whenever it determines the decree is not in the child's best interests.

• Arbitration of Plan Disputes, 43 O.S. 109(H)

  Where the parents dispute the interpretation of a provision of the plan, the court may appoint an arbitrator whose determination is final and binding on the parties until further order of the court, and if a parent refuses to consent to arbitration the court may terminate the joint custody decree.

• Relocation Notice and Objection, 43 O.S. 112.3

  Relocation means moving the child's principal residence over seventy five miles for sixty days or more, excluding temporary absences. Written notice is due by the sixtieth day before the move, the notice must warn that an objection is due within thirty days, and if no proceeding is filed within thirty days the relocation is authorized. The relocating person must prove good faith, after which the burden shifts to the nonrelocating person on best interests.

• Agreed Relocation Terms, 43 O.S. 112.3(N)(2) and 112(C)(6)

  Where the section conflicts with an existing custody order or enforceable agreement, it does not apply to the terms of that order or agreement governing relocation, so parents may set their own relocation rules. Separately, in making an order for custody the court shall require compliance with section 112.3, and 43 O.S. 112.3(D) requires the statutory notice language in the order.