In Oklahoma, if you are a parent, you owe your children a duty of support. Whether you have been married, divorced, have custody or are a noncustodial parent the obligation is the same. Because there are very few situations where you can escape that responsibility, it is important to make certain you can make your child support payments and that you do not allow them to fall behind.

Child support payments are an attempt to ensure children in divorced, never married or separated families are not deprived of the material support they would have received in a married family. Because the obligation attaches when the child is born and continue at least until the child is an adult, they can accumulate and become a burden to the parent making the payments.

At the same time, these payments can be absolutely essential for the custodial parent. And sometimes that custodial parent may be a grandparent. A “Teen Mom” participant, Jenelle Evans apparently has been paying her mother $130 per month in child support payment to care for her son.

According to the story, she is “helping” her mother and now wishes to cancel the support payments. Her mother may want to think twice, as it may be wiser to leave any order of support in place for a few more years, to save the time and expense of having to return to court and reinstate a specific order.

If you have problems with a child support, either with the payment or the receipt, you should consult with an attorney, as it is better to deal with the issue immediately given the potential for missed payments becoming burdensome debt.