Oklahoma Father Prevails at Contested Temporary Order Hearing

Representing the father in a contested paternity and custody case, Jeff Bacon successfully litigated a temporary order hearing involving competing requests for custody and parenting time. The father sought joint custody and substantially equal parenting time, while the mother requested sole custody with limited visitation.

The Court issued temporary orders after reviewing the parties’ arguments, ensuring the father remained an active part in his children’s lives as the case moves forward, including an award of equal parenting time.

The Oklahoma Law Behind This Result

In a paternity case, custody and parenting time are decided under the same best-interests standard that governs divorce, 43 O.S. § 109, and once paternity is established the father stands on equal footing with the mother: under the Oklahoma Uniform Parentage Act, 10 O.S. § 7700-101 and following, an acknowledged or adjudicated father has the same rights and duties as any other parent.

The temporary order hearing is where those rights first take concrete form. Under 10 O.S. § 7700-624, the court in a paternity case can enter temporary orders for support and, as provided in 43 O.S. § 110, for custody and parenting time while the case is pending, and the schedule set at that hearing tends to become the status quo the court is reluctant to disturb later.

Oklahoma’s stated policy in 43 O.S. § 110.1 is that children should have frequent and continuing contact with both parents and that parents are encouraged to share the rights and responsibilities of raising them, and the court may provide for substantially equal access to the children when that is in their best interests.

A parent asking for sole custody with limited visitation still has to persuade the court that it is in the child’s best interests; when a parent asks for it, 43 O.S. § 110.1 allows the court to order substantially equal access at a temporary hearing unless it finds shared parenting would be detrimental to the child, but the court is not required to do so.

What Fathers in a Similar Situation Should Know

Unmarried fathers should treat the temporary order hearing as the most important date in the case, because the schedule it produces is the one the judge sees working for the months before trial. Our Tulsa paternity page covers establishing paternity and the custody case that follows, and the statewide custody guide explains what the court weighs.

Results depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each case. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.