Missouri Child Custody Legal Questions

You need to immediately contact an attorney in your area who handles a lot of family law cases. You have what will likely be a contested custody case that will require the appointment of a guardian ad litem (an attorney who will represent your children's best interest). I also suggest that you remove yourself and the children immediately from the abusive and dangerous situation - if you have no where to go, please look into women's shelters in your area. Many of them will permit you to bring the children with you.... Read Answer

If the step father is leaving marks, then the father needs to be taking the children to the hospital emergency room or the police station immediately. Otherwise, a motion to modify the custody order currently in place would seem to be in order if the children are being spanked for no reason by the mother's new husband. I would suggest consulting an attorney in your area.... Read Answer

The house is marital property and will need to be dealt with as part of the divorce. Resolution of this issue can take many forms and involves more choices than sell or refinance. Resolution could include agreements as to who would live in the house, who would pay the mortgage, who would pay for repairs, what access the other would have, how much time should pass before the house should be listed to be sold or how much time should pass before refinancing should be complete. The language for these alternative resolutions will need to be precisely crafted to protect both parties, therefore I would suggest consulting an experienced divorce attorney in your area.... Read Answer

The first question your father has is which is the appropriate jurisdiction, Missouri or Kansas. To answer that I would need to know where they where they last lived as husband and wife, and how long your father has lived in MO and how long his wife has lived in KS. This is an important question because it changes the answer regarding the alimony/maintenance question. With respect to the division of the retirement accounts, in Missouri marital property is to be equitably divided. Marital property is any property that was acquired during the marriage with a few exceptions (for example, inheritance money is not marital property provided it has been kept in a separate account). Your father's retirement accounts may be subject to division if he earned any of the retirement points during the marriage. Only those points earned during the marriage are subject to division. I would tell you father that since he would no more think about filling his own cavities or performing his own heart operation, that perhaps he needs to consult with a lawyer about his situation especially since it could cost him a bundle not to.... Read Answer

Under this situation, it is very important that you file for custody in Missouri NOW. Otherwise, you could be subject to action in Illinois. Missouri appears to have what is called "home state" jurisdiction at this time, so you need to exercise that to your benefit. Get a lawyer and proceed now.... Read Answer

When the child is born, the biological father has the right to be involved in the child's life. The extent of this right will be defined by a court order, with the "best interests of the child" always the bottom line. That's the basic answer. Other concerns involve the legal status of the biological father's parentage, also known as "paternity." Simply put, a biological (actual)) father is not automatically a legal father until certain things happen. Until parentage is legally established, the father's rights could be described as "natural" instead of "legal." In other words, until the father's paternity is legally established, the law will not formally recognize his rights. Once it is established, the law will establish specific rights involving access to the child, but only if a party files a case to bring the matter into court. There are a number of ways to establish paternity. The "easiest" is signing up on the birth certificate. Other ways include signing an acknowledgement, and in some instances simply completing a DNA test. This gives the threshold right to proceed to confirm parental rights to a child. With the right of access to the child comes the responsibility of supporting that child. This too will be addressed when the parties get to court. Also, a state IV-D "child support" agency may also establish a support order. Without a doubt, a parent of a newborn should consult a family law attorney about these issues as soon as possible.... Read Answer