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 Oklahoma Statutes (Last Updated: September 18, 2014)
 Title 43. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

  § 43-137. Past due payments operate as judgments – Cessation of lien after period of years – Duration of arrearage payment.  

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  • A.  Any payment or installment of child support ordered pursuant to any order, judgment, or decree of the district court or administrative order of the Department of Human Services is, on and after the date it becomes past due, a judgment by operation of law.  Judgments for past due support shall:

    1.  Have the full force and effect of any other judgment of this state, including the ability to be enforced by any method available under the laws of this state to enforce and collect money judgments; and

    2.  Be entitled to full faith and credit as a judgment in this state and any other state.

    B.  A child support judgment shall not become dormant for any purpose, except that it shall cease to be a lien upon real property five (5) years from the date it is filed of record with the county clerk in the county where the property is located, unless the judgment lien is extended in accordance with subsection C of Section 759 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

    1.  Except as otherwise provided by court order, a judgment for past due child support shall be enforceable until paid in full.

    2.  An order that provides for payment of child support, if willfully disobeyed, may be enforced by indirect civil contempt proceedings, notwithstanding that the support payment is a judgment on and after the date it becomes past due.  After the implementation of the Centralized Support Registry, any amounts determined to be past due by the Department of Human Services may subsequently be enforced by indirect civil contempt proceedings.

    C.  An arrearage payment schedule set by a court or administrative order shall not exceed three (3) years, unless imposition of a payment schedule would be unjust, inequitable, unreasonable, or inappropriate under the circumstances, or not in the best interests of the child or children involved.  When making this determination, reasonable support obligations of either parent for other children in the custody of the parent may be considered.  If an arrearage payment schedule that exceeds three (3) years is set, specific findings of fact supporting the action shall be made.

Added by Laws 1987, c. 230, § 16, eff. Oct. 1, 1987.  Renumbered from Title 12, § 1291 by Laws 1989, c. 333, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1989.  Amended by Laws 1993, c. 307, § 4, emerg. eff. June 7, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 356, § 17, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Laws 1994, c. 366, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Laws 1996, c. 233, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1996; Laws 1998, c. 323, § 12, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; Laws 2000, c. 384, § 7, eff. Nov. 1, 2000.