Navigating Child Support: Essential Steps for Disclosure
Hello, I’m Oklahoma City Attorney Dillan Savage of Wirth Law Office. Today we are going to talk about the process of requesting and receiving wage and tax information from another party in a custody case after you have already gotten the final decree in a divorce or paternity suit that has actively existing child support obligations.
In the event another party owes you child support and you believe that you must receive their tax information or financial information to make sure that child support is up to date, you can request their W-2s, 1099s, and other tax information and financial information on or after the 15th of April every year. Now how do you do this the correct way? This is why you hire an attorney, as you want to avoid any mistakes during this process.
Filing Your Request and Serving the Other Party
The document itself will look very similar to other pleadings in your case. It will have, of course, a title that clearly states the purpose of the document, and within it, you will be requesting the 1099s, the tax information, and other financial details. You will take that original document that you have created and file it in your existing case.
After filing, you must serve certified copies of that document to the other party in the same manner you would with a summons in a civil case. This typically involves engaging a process server or a sheriff to ensure that the other party receives the document formally.
What Happens After the Request is Served?
Once the other party has received the formal request filed with the court, they will have 10 days to provide you with the financial and tax information via certified mail. If they fail to comply and you find yourself needing to drag them into court for a motion to modify, the court may determine that the other party did not cooperate as required by Oklahoma law.
In such cases, they can be compelled to pay the adjusted child support amount, along with potentially covering your reasonable attorney’s fees. This Oklahoma law is outlined in Title 43, Section 118.3, which details the request for wage and tax information.
Get Expert Assistance with Your Child Support Case
If you found this information to be useful or believe it could help someone else, please visit theoklahomacityattorney.com. My name is Dillan Savage at Wirth Law Office. For a low-cost consultation, call us at 405-888-5400. Thank you for watching!