The Law Blog of Oklahoma

New Law Requires Parent Education in Incompatibility Divorce

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The 2014 Oklahoma legislative session featured a number of bills aimed at curbing the state's high divorce rate. Several of those laws did not pass, including one which would have removed incompatibility as grounds for divorce. However, one law, HB 2249, amended the existing statutes to require that parents seeking divorce for incompatibility complete an educational program about the impact of divorce on children.

HB 2249 was authored by Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman. Signed into law by Governor Mary Fallin earlier this month, the new law is to take effect on November 1, 2014.

The new law amends 43 O.S. 101, which lists grounds for divorce in Oklahoma, to clarify that parents of children under the age of 18 who are seeking divorce on grounds of incompatibility must "attend an educational program concerning the impact of divorce on children." The program is described in the bill's amendments to 43 O.S. 107.2.

Before the amendments made by HB 2249, Oklahoma divorce courts had the authority to require any parents of minor children to take an educational course concerning "the impact of separate parenting and coparenting on children, the implications for visitation and conflict management, development of children, separate financial responsibility for children and such other instruction as deemed necessary by the court." While the court still may order such a program in any divorce, HB 2249 added another stipulation that requires such a course if the parents of minor children file for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility:

B.In actions for divorce based upon incompatibility filed on or after November 1, 2014, where the interest of a child under eighteen (18) years of age is involved, the adult parties shall attend, either separately or together, an educational program concerning the impact of divorce on children.The program shall include the following components:

1. Short-term and longitudinal effects of divorce on child well-being
2. Reconciliation as an optional outcome;
3. Effects of family violence;
4. Potential child behaviors and emotional states during and after divorce including information on how to respond to the child's needs;
5. Communication strategies to reduce conflict and facilitate cooperative coparenting; and
6. Area resources, including but not limited to nonprofit organizations or religious entities available to address issues of substance abuse or other addictions, family violence, behavioral health, individual and couples counseling, and financial planning.43 O.S. 107.2(B)


The program is to cost no less than $15 and no more than $60, but it must be paid at the parents' expense. The law says that parents may attend either together or separately, but that a divorce for incompatibility will not be granted unless the parents have a certificate of completion or have received a waiver for good cause.

Often, when parents are considering divorce, their children are at the forefront of every decision. Parents understand that their split can have a significant impact on their children's lives, and few go into the process of divorce without giving the effects on their children ample consideration. Now, by state law, divorcing parents will be required to sit through an educational program that fully explains the scenarios they have already considered.

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