» Legal Proceedings
Factors Considered by the Court when Making a Custody Determination
June 20th, 2012
In Missouri, there are guidelines that the Court must follow in making a child custody determination. While all child custody determinations must be made in accordance with the best welfare and interests of the child, there is also a statutory and ca…
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Child support judgment not subject to collateral attack in later proceeding; Court of Appeals can amend child support judgment based on judicial admission.
May 19th, 2012
Recent Case: TLD v. JRD Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District – WD73385 Mother appeals from the trial court’s amended judgment order of modification retroactively modifying Father’s child support obligation and ordering Mother…
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Family lawyers and Divorce Attorneys function hand in hand with Forensic Accountants
May 14th, 2012
The following post was contributed by guest author Grant Webb, an accounting and accounting law writer for Bisk Education and Villanova University. Forensic Accountants Fill a Unique Niche Family law and divorce cases are often quite complex. Dependi…
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Case Law Update: Rude, Irritating, or Inconvenient Conduct not Sufficient to Support Order of Protection
March 31st, 2012
Recent Case: SD v. MW Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District – SD31296 Under section 455.010(13), "stalking" occurs when any person purposely and repeatedly engages in an unwanted course of conduct that causes alarm to another p…
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Courts Bulletin: Recent developments in Missouri Family Law
November 28th, 2011
Administrative child support orders are available for the support of all eligible children, including children of citizens of other countries. Lajeunesse v. State of Missouri Department of Social Services, No. 73477 (Mo. App. W.D., October 4, 2011),…
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Recent case: Forum under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and in personam jurisdiction
August 29th, 2011
www.courts.mo.gov/file.jspMissouri Constitution provides subject matter jurisdiction of circuit courts. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act provides comity among states and determines which state is the most appropriate forum for seeking remed…
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Property Not Owned by Spouses Cannot Be Divided in Divorce
June 5th, 2011
The Circuit Court does not have authority to divide assets that are not owned by either spouse in a dissolution of marriage. In a recent Missouri case, the trial court entered a judgment that divided certain trusts where the children were the sole be…
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When Attorney Fees Can Be Awarded in Divorce/Family Litigation
April 24th, 2011
While Missouri courts normally follow the “American Rule” regarding legal fees – that each party is responsible for his or her own costs – Missouri dissolution of Marriage statutes give the court the discretion to order one pa…
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Case Law Update: No contempt found when action was not intentional and contumacious - standards for custody modification
November 22nd, 2010
The Circuit court ordered re-financing of the house after divorce. At the hearing on a subsequent contempt action, the circuit court found that failure to comply was not contemptuous because party did not have the financial ability to comply with the…
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Missouri no fault divorce - what it does and does not mean
November 2nd, 2010
Similar to other states, Missouri is a modified no-fault divorce state. However, there is some misconception out there about what this actually means for divorcing parties in Missouri. Modified no-fault divorce means that a party does not have to pro…
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