Loudenback's Lay Divorce Guide is primarily intended to give general guidance to non-lawyers with a need-to-know Oklahoma divorce law, or secondarily, non-Oklahoma lawyers needing general information about such laws. Another document, Survey of Oklahoma Divorce and Modification Issues, contains extensive legal authorities and is located at my personal website, http://www.dougloudenback.com. This document is NOT intended to offer particular advice concerning any specific facts or circumstances and is by no means exhaustive concerning Oklahoma law of divorce. Nor is it a replacement for the particular advice you will receive from your own attorney.
Which brings me to this important statement:
Loudenback's Lay Divorce Guide does not create an attorney/client relationship between its author or any reader. Not until you and I agree, in person (by phone or otherwise) that you wish my legal representation/counsel will an attorney-client relation be established.
Loudenback's Lay Divorce Guide does not "teach" you how to do your own divorce. "Divorce kit" divorce decrees have generated some substantial fees for me - in my thirty-two year tenure of being a lawyer, I've made thousands of dollars in post-divorce enforcement or modification situations precisely because of the ignorance of people who produced the "don't burn up your money" divorce kit decrees combined with the gullibility of persons looking for a cheap solution to a failed marriage. If you are looking for a "cheap" way to do your own divorce, or are a self-help purveyor of "divorce-kit" trash for which you will have little if any responsibility for a "client's" grievance years after divorce, you won't get help in here, even if you foolishly think that you do.
A note of caution: Changes in divorce law are constant and can occur at any time either through new legislation or new state or federal court decisions. Each year, many such changes will occur. Your best and most current information will come from a lawyer who is competent in divorce practice and who keeps abreast of such changes and who is familiar with your own particular marital history.
Douglas Loudenback
Suite 500 Park Harvey Center, 200 N.
Harvey
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-236-4004 Fax 236-4114
March, 2000
loudenbk@swbell.net
http://www.dougloudenback.com
| Atty/Client | Married? | Jurisdiction | Grounds | Children | Sep Prop | Mar Estate | Alimony |
| Fees | Extrajuris | Procedure | Settlement | Trial | Misc | Shortcut | Moving On |
DETAILED
CONTENTS
Click on any item you
want
CHAPTER I: THE ATTORNEY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Do I need a
lawyer? Object
of the relationship Choice by
the client
Can I
choose a specialist? What about lawyer
ads? What
about quality firms?
Do I need
excellence? How
should I choose? Choice
by the attorney
Confidentiality
Exclusivity
Uniqueness
of your case
Decisions
Communication
Attorney
fee contract
Written
or oral Expenses
Contingent
fees
Flat
fees Hourly
charge rates Time
required
Results
obtained Minimum
& nonrefundable fees Disputes
with your attorney
Attorney's
liens Retaining
lien Charging
lien
CHAPTER II: ARE WE MARRIED OR WHAT?
Marriage
defined Common
Law Marriage Does
it matter?
Who
can marry? Invalid
marriages Annulment
Any red
flags waived?
CHAPTER III: JURISDICTION & VENUE
Jurisdiction
over divorce Jurisdiction
over parties Custody
and visitation jurisdiction
Child
support jurisdiction Venue
CHAPTER IV: GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE
Objective importance Subjective
importance
CHAPTER V: ISSUES CONCERNING CHILDREN
Custody and visitation Usual
custody order Split
custody order
Joint
custody order Gender
preference & best interests of the child
Preference
of a child Visitation
Standard
visitation schedules
Grandparental
visitation Third
party custody Who
speaks for the child?
Child
support guidelines Child
support examples Health
care
Reasons
for deviation Other
important matters Future
modification
CHAPTER VI: SEPARATE PROPERTY
Premarital
property Enhancement
value Use
and commingling
Marital
conveyances Gifts
during marriage Unresolved
issues Relation
to other issues
CHAPTER VII: EQUITABLE DIVISION OF MARITAL ESTATE
Identification
& valuation of the estate Net
marital estate
Severance
of ownership, dominion & control Equitable
division defined
Equal
division not required Contributions
& other factors Trial
court inclinations
Methods
of distribution In
kind division Equitable
division tools
Sale
of property Lump
sum judgment and judgment lien
Property
division alimony Retirement
account division Rights
of creditors
Effects
of bankruptcy Omitted
property
CHAPTER VIII: SUPPORT ALIMONY
Types
of spousal support Legal
considerations Characteristics
Initial
definiteness Modification,
economic change Modification,
cohabitation
Termination
on death Termination
on remarriage Tax
consequences
Bankruptcy
survivability Lien
Health
insurance Life
insurance
CHAPTER IX: ATTORNEY FEES & EXPENSES
CHAPTER X: EXTRAJURISDICTIONAL AGREEMENTS
CHAPTER XI: PROCEDURE BEFORE TRIAL
Petition
and summons Temporary
order (usual) Temporary
restraining order
Entry
of appearance or waiver Answer
& counterclaim Pretrial
conference Discovery
CHAPTER XII: SETTLEMENT
Negotiations,
generally Negotiation
suggestions
CHAPTER XIII: TRIAL
Your
attitude about trial When
will the case be tried? Trial
setting
Trial
procedure Life
goes on after trial
CHAPTER XIV: OTHER LEGAL MATTERS
Prenuptial
contracts Alienation
of affections Marital
torts
Cobra
(health insurance) Domestic
abuse Name
change
Finality
of divorce Reconciliation
before divorce Reconciliation
after divorce
CHAPTER XV: SHORTCUTTING THE SYSTEM
Divorce
paper sellers One
lawyer divorces Mediation
INTRODUCTION
| Atty/Client | Married? | Jurisdiction | Grounds | Children | Sep Prop | Mar Estate | Alimony |
| Fees | Extrajuris | Procedure | Settlement | Trial | Misc | Shortcut | Moving On |
In terms of having a direct, personal effect upon people, Oklahoma divorce law is the most pervasive substantive law of the State. Directly or indirectly, it will have an impact upon most who live here in an intimate and significant way. Almost everyone will have general and specific opinions about divorce and about particular divorces. The words, "right," "wrong," "fair" and "unfair" will receive a great deal of use/abuse and opinions will vary considerably as to the application of those terms. Like a death in the family, the end of a marital relation may bring out both the best and the worst in a family's members and friends.
Loudenback's Lay Divorce Guide is primarily intended to give general information to non-lawyers about the law of divorce in Oklahoma. While non-Oklahoma lawyers may find it generally informative, it contains no citations to statutory or case authority, so less useful to non-Oklahoma lawyers. It can be nothing more than general in it scope, because, for most divorce issues, there exists no explicit formula in Oklahoma for measuring any particular solution to the practical consequences of any failed marriage. If your case were tried to five different judges, most probably each would result in five different results in one way or another. Further, each of the five decisions could well be affirmed in the event of an appeal to an Oklahoma appellate court.
The reason for the different decisions, and the reason that each could possibly be upheld on appeal, is the word, "discretion" - a wide latitude in deciding the issues in any given divorce case - and a divorce trial judge has a lot of it. Other than "legal issue" appeals, an appellate court will typically reverse particular trial court decisions only if it determines that the trial court "abused its discretion" (which, of course, involves yet another subjective opinion, this one by the appellate court, to reach such a conclusion).
Much of Oklahoma divorce law is set up that way. The Legislature has defined Oklahoma divorce law broadly and without much particular definition. In interpreting statutory law, Oklahoma appellate courts have given little description, in objective terms, of what an "abuse of discretion" is, or is not. Therefore, a uniformly practical and predictably reliable definition of what "abuse of discretion" actually means does not exist.
While some exceptions do exist to what has just been said, the point to remember is this - divorce law in Oklahoma is inherently subjective, or if you are a lawyer, "equitable" in nature. For the most part, only general standards exist for evaluating the particular circumstances of any divorce.
Understanding this, and since divorce issues are tried to a judge and not a jury, it is apparent that the audience of importance in your case is only one person - the trial judge - the person who has the power to make all decisions on all issues of your case. The fundamental task, and that of the attorney, is one of persuasion. The person to persuade is not your spouse or his or her attorney. It is the trial judge to whom your case is assigned.
It is also extremely important that you be aware of the volatility in divorce
or any other law.
Small or sweeping changes can and do occur, often without
predictability. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that your best and most
current information should come from the attorney with whom you consult. And, to
be sure, he/she may disagree with the opinions which I have expressed in
Loudenback's Lay Divorce Guide. The opinions here are only my own.