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…
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…
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…
Often clients get confused with the concept of misconduct and what impact it may have in the outcome of their Missouri divorce. Some of this confusion may be due to the accepted legal principle of Missouri as a no-fault divorce state. However, this is a separate and distinct concept from…
The short answer to this question is that the “marital portion” of your spouse’s retirement plan in Missouri is most likely divisible by your family court judge. Therefore, you will be entitled to a portion of those benefits. However, there are some exceptions to this general rule of thumb. If…
In our previous blog entry we addressed the risks involved with failing to be informed about your financial circumstances, not being prepared to provide for your financial necessities in the early stages of the divorce process and the financial damage that can be done by using the divorce process as…
Property which was clearly non-marital at the time of the marriage can be converted into marital property primarily by the following methods: 1) re-titling of non-marital property or 2) commingling non-marital property with marital property. This principal is often referred to as transmutation or the act of making a gift…
The answer to this question is not always as straight forward as it appears. In the State of Missouri the Court should first determine a property’s “character” prior to making a division. In accordance with Missouri Statute 452.330, property shall be characterized as either “marital” or “non-marital”. How your property…