Effective May 16, 2020, the Missouri Supreme Court’s Order established a four (4) phased plan to reopen courthouses across our State. This operational directive applies to all State Courts in Missouri and explains the criteria for how all 46 judicial circuits in Missouri will reopen access to staff, attorneys and the…
As a result of the ongoing pandemic due to the corona virus, on Friday April 17th the Supreme Court of Missouri extended its order prohibiting in-person hearings in Missouri courts, now through May 15th, 2020. However, despite this limitation, most courts have adopted protocols to continue to move forward with…
As a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Missouri and the requirement that citizens practice social distancing to combat the spread of the virus, by order of the Supreme Court of Missouri, every courthouse in Missouri is closed to in-person hearings, with few exceptions. As of the…
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the direction to increase social distancing, on April 17th, 2020 the Supreme Court of Missouri entered an Order extending its previous prohibition on in-person court appearances through May 15th, 2020. With the exponential increase in the number of the COVID-19 cases in…
In today’s blog we discuss the consideration of future pension benefits in the division of marital property in Missouri Family Courts. In previous blogs, we have addressed the entitlement of divorcing spouses to retirement benefits accumulated during the marriage. In circumstances when the parties have accumulated, during the marriage, savings…
Many Missouri family law attorneys who have been in practice since September 11, 2001 have experienced an increase in their cases involving families with Military retirement plans. In today’s blog we discuss a potential pit fall when dividing a marital interest in these plans. In the years following September 11, 2001…
With the prevalence of private grade schools and high schools in the St. Louis area, family law attorneys and judges are often faced with the question of how to pay for the costs associated with these schools when one or both parents decide to send their child to private school. …
Missouri family law attorneys and judges often wrestle over how property is to be divided when that property was acquired during the marriage from one party’s separate or pre-marital assets. In today’s blog we examine the Source of Funds Rule and its potential application in divorce proceedings in Missouri. It is…
As a family law practitioner one of the most common explanations, given by new clients, as to why they have remained in an unhealthy and often times oppressive marriage is the feeling of being financially trapped due to the unknown financial consequences if they leave the marriage . This is…
In Part I of our most recent blog we discussed how important it is to determine an attorney’s level of experience with family law and those specific issues which are of particular importance to the client. Further, we addressed how important it is that potential clients evaluate their comfort level…