Family Law

Photo: Chad Nathan, Unsplash

Family cases are some of the hardest moments in a person’s life. We represent spouses and parents in St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Lincoln counties in dissolution, custody, support and modification cases. Before you decide what to fight for, we explain what Missouri law presumes.

Divorce (dissolution of marriage)

Missouri calls divorce “dissolution of marriage.” One spouse must have lived in Missouri for at least 90 days before filing, and the court cannot enter a judgment until 30 days after the petition is filed. The court divides marital property and debt in the way it finds just. That is not always 50/50, and separate property generally stays with the spouse who owns it.

We handle:

• Contested and uncontested dissolutions
• Division of the family home, retirement accounts, businesses and debts
• Maintenance (Missouri’s term for spousal support)
• Legal separation

Child custody and parenting plans

Since August 28, 2023, Missouri courts begin every contested custody case with a rebuttable presumption that equal or approximately equal parenting time is in the child’s best interests (RSMo 452.375). A parent can overcome the presumption with a preponderance of the evidence. A pattern of domestic violence also rebuts it.

The court then weighs the statutory best-interest factors. Among them:

• Each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent
• The child’s adjustment to home, school and community
• Any plan to relocate
• The child’s own input

Each parent proposes a parenting plan that covers the schedule, holidays, decision-making and expenses. We help you build a plan that fits your child. We also present the facts that matter under these factors, whether you want equal time or a different arrangement.

Child support

Missouri sets child support with the Form 14 guidelines under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 88.01. The calculation weighs both parents’ incomes, the parenting-time schedule, and costs such as health insurance and child care. The Form 14 amount is presumed correct. The court can depart from it only if it finds that amount unjust or inappropriate. We check every input on both parents’ Form 14s, because small errors change the number.

Modifications

Custody and support orders can change when your circumstances change.

• Support: The court can modify support on a showing of a substantial and continuing change. When the current amount was set under the guidelines, a recalculated amount that differs by 20% or more makes a prima facie case for the change (RSMo 452.370).
• Custody: The court can modify custody when the circumstances of the child or a parent have changed and the change serves the child’s best interests (RSMo 452.410).

We represent parents who are asking for a change and parents responding to one.

Other family matters

• Paternity, custody and support for unmarried parents
• Orders of protection
• Relocation notices and objections (RSMo 452.377)
• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Talk with us

We offer a free initial consultation. Call (314) 498-5005 or use our contact form, and we will return your message within 24 hours. Hablamos español.