» Property Division
December Courts Bulletin: Recent updates in Missouri Case Law
December 30th, 2011
Value of a closely-held corporation must be as fair market value and application of a calculation of value via a buy-sell agreement not related to fair market value is error. Wood v. Wood, No. 96218 (Mo. App. W.D., November 29, 2011), Romines, J. Thi…
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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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Characterization of Property in Divorce - Increases in Value of Non-Marital Assets only Marital to Extent of Marital Contributions
July 16th, 2011
Under Missouri Law, certain property is considered to be non-marital, and not part of the division of the marital estate in a divorce proceeding. Non-marital property includes property: Acquired before the marriage; Acquired by gift or inheritance; A…
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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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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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Grossly disproportionate division of property and debts in a divorce proceeding reversed
July 31st, 2010
In a recent ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Southern District, a division of property and debt where the Wife received 93% of the assets and 27% of the debts, and the Husband received 7% of the assets and 73% of the debt was reversed…
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Missouri Supreme Court Decision: Spouse's Contribution to Separate Property Creates Marital Interest In Property Which May Be Divided by Trial Court
May 16th, 2010
In a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Missouri, the Court held that a spouses contribution to otherwise separate property creates a marital interest that can be divided by the Court. In Missouri, property that was owned prior to the marriage i…
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Bankruptcy Filings Up Substantially in 2009
March 13th, 2010
As a practicing family and bankruptcy attorney, I consistently run into cases where people are dealing with both a divorce (or other family law related matter), as well as a bankruptcy. This is because, many times, one is the cause of the other (this…
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Mark A. Wortman
Mark A. Wortman is a Missouri family law attorney who handles only divorce and family law matters within the state. Due to this specialty, Mark Wortman has handled thousands of Missouri divorce and family cases and has practiced extensively in front… Read More
