The idea of being charged with stealing your own child may seem absurd to you. Indeed, in many cases, you do have full rights to your children as long as you're looking out for their well-being. However, in cases where parents are unmarried or separating, parental kidnapping can come up. Find out what your rights are as a parent so you don't get charged with parental kidnapping.

Child Custody Laws in Oklahoma

Child custody laws in Oklahoma depend on the situation with the parents. If the parents are married or the father has established paternity, either parent may claim physical custody of the child. In cases of separation, the above holds true unless the courts have ruled otherwise.

If the parents divorce, the courts will establish custody. The following custody plans are available uniformly across all states:

• Joint custody: Both parents have custody and share all responsibilities
• Sole custody: Only one parent has custodial rights
• Split custody: Children are split between the parents
• Birdnesting: The children stay in the home while the parents rotate through

The joint custody plan should preclude any allegations of parental kidnapping unless one of the parents violates the agreement. The other plans are open to parental kidnapping.

For unwed parents, fathers have custodial rights in certain circumstances. A father has custodial rights if he's named on the birth certificate. He can also petition for custody during a formal establishment of paternity.

Parental Kidnapping in Oklahoma

Oklahoma doesn't distinguish between kidnapping by a parent and other forms of kidnapping. In Oklahoma, anyone who takes or entices away a child in a malicious, forcible, or fraudulent way may commit child stealing if they intend to detain or conceal the child from whomever has lawful charge.

Additionally, anyone who takes the child to another state or another country without consent from the person who has lawful charge of the child may be committing kidnapping. Anyone found guilty of child stealing may earn up to 10 years in prison.

Both of those scenarios can be applied to parents.

Examples of Parental Kidnapping

The most obvious example conforms to the first part of the law. One of the parents, without legal custody, takes the child and hides the child from the other parent.

Other examples are less clear. For instance, let's say you want to take your children out of the state or country during a school break. If the school break is your custodial time, you shouldn't need to get consent from the other parent. If the break isn't your custodial time, you must get consent from whomever has lawful charge to avoid possibly getting charged with parental kidnapping.

The situation becomes less clear when the parents haven't established a custody agreement. For instance, perhaps the father is listed on the birth certificate but he never filed for custodial rights. He probably should get consent before taking the child out of the state, but establishing parental kidnapping would be difficult if he brought the child back in a timely manner.

Defenses to Parental Kidnapping Charges

If charges of parental kidnapping come up, defense attorneys do have some options for defending their clients.

One defense is to establish the parent had lawful custody at the time. The best method is with an intact and detailed child custody order. If the parents are married or only separated, either parent has rights to the child as long as there was no intent to conceal the child from the other.

Another defense is current custody of the child. Parents could argue they were already in custody of the child at the time the custody and visitation order were made. So, they weren't in violation because the order didn't exist yet.

The third defense is that the parent in question was fleeing instances of domestic violence. This defense admits that parents were violating the custody order, but they were doing so to keep themselves and their child safe.

The best way to avoid accusations of parental kidnapping is to establish a clear custody agreement and maintain communication with the other custodian. If you've been charged with parental kidnapping, contact Kanehl Law Firm PLLC.