Oklahoma § 43-137 - Past due payments operate as judgments – Cessation of lien

§ 43-137. Past due payments operate as judgments – Cessation of lien

after period of years – Duration of arrearage payment.

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.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 43. Marriage and Family

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.