Establishing Visitation in Oklahoma
If you do not have a Court Order for Visitation, and would like to have an enforceable schedule, you will need to file for either Divorce, Separation or Paternity. Most Oklahoma counties have a Standard Visitation Schedule. Some of the schedules have different requirements for Infant Visitation. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Network has a Standard Visitation Schedule and Advisory Guidelines which you can view to learn more about the different schedules and requirements. Keep in mind that these schedules are not necessarily followed in all Oklahoma counties, but you will be able to get an idea of some example schedules.
If you do not yet have a Court Order and are being permitted Visitation, it is a good practice to keep a calendar to document your Visitation days.
Parents follow all sorts of different parenting time schedules by agreement. Some people share the child(ren) week/on week/off, or in variations of equal time: Mon. Tues. (one parent) Wed. Thurs (other parent), and alternate weekends. Holidays can alternate yearly, and Summers can be blocks of time at once, depending upon distance between the parents' homes. Some parents have a schedule in which one parent keeps the child(ren) during the school week, and the other parent sees the children on alternating weekends. Extra time can be added with a mid-week overnight or evening during the off week. Numerous examples of schedules/calendars are available in online searches.
If your visitation is being denied and you already have a Court Order, please see Enforcement of Visitation. If you need to request a different schedule due to a change in residence or circumstances, Visitation can be modified in the best interests of the child(ren). 43 O.S. 112.
If you do not yet have a Court Order and are being permitted Visitation, it is a good practice to keep a calendar to document your Visitation days.
Parents follow all sorts of different parenting time schedules by agreement. Some people share the child(ren) week/on week/off, or in variations of equal time: Mon. Tues. (one parent) Wed. Thurs (other parent), and alternate weekends. Holidays can alternate yearly, and Summers can be blocks of time at once, depending upon distance between the parents' homes. Some parents have a schedule in which one parent keeps the child(ren) during the school week, and the other parent sees the children on alternating weekends. Extra time can be added with a mid-week overnight or evening during the off week. Numerous examples of schedules/calendars are available in online searches.
If your visitation is being denied and you already have a Court Order, please see Enforcement of Visitation. If you need to request a different schedule due to a change in residence or circumstances, Visitation can be modified in the best interests of the child(ren). 43 O.S. 112.
INFANT VISITATION
A common question is: What kind of visitation should a new parent have with a newborn/infant?
Different courts throughout the state of Oklahoma decide this issue differently. There is no uniform schedule set in stone for courts to follow. Advisory Guidelines exist; however, judges are also not required to follow these. Many different factors are weighed by the court when deciding how parents should have contact with an infant. The main intent of this type of visitation is so the child can bond with the parents. The Advisory Guidelines initially restrict overnights. However, if both parents were "regularly involved in all aspects of care giving" and the child has already bonded with both parents, then overnights should be "reconsidered" (see Advisory Guidelines, pages 3 - 4).
The Guidelines define the "key factor" for Infant Visitation as: "the ability and willingness of each parent...to learn basic care giving skills such as feeding, changing, and bathing a young child; to diagnose and treat common infant illness; and to demonstrate the ability to maintain an infant's basic sleep, feeding and waking cycle" (page 4). Importantly, the Guidelines note that gender is not the consideration, but instead "the parent's desire to be [and history of actually being] responsibly involved in the care and development of their child" (page 4). Courts are encouraged to make an individual determination, and the Guidelines further advocate frequent contact with both parents: "Separations of more than three or four days from either parent will interfere with a healthy attachment to that parent" (page 6). A complete copy of the Advisory Guidelines is available online from the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network.
Different courts throughout the state of Oklahoma decide this issue differently. There is no uniform schedule set in stone for courts to follow. Advisory Guidelines exist; however, judges are also not required to follow these. Many different factors are weighed by the court when deciding how parents should have contact with an infant. The main intent of this type of visitation is so the child can bond with the parents. The Advisory Guidelines initially restrict overnights. However, if both parents were "regularly involved in all aspects of care giving" and the child has already bonded with both parents, then overnights should be "reconsidered" (see Advisory Guidelines, pages 3 - 4).
The Guidelines define the "key factor" for Infant Visitation as: "the ability and willingness of each parent...to learn basic care giving skills such as feeding, changing, and bathing a young child; to diagnose and treat common infant illness; and to demonstrate the ability to maintain an infant's basic sleep, feeding and waking cycle" (page 4). Importantly, the Guidelines note that gender is not the consideration, but instead "the parent's desire to be [and history of actually being] responsibly involved in the care and development of their child" (page 4). Courts are encouraged to make an individual determination, and the Guidelines further advocate frequent contact with both parents: "Separations of more than three or four days from either parent will interfere with a healthy attachment to that parent" (page 6). A complete copy of the Advisory Guidelines is available online from the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network.