Missouri Child Custody Legal Questions

If there is no court order establishing parental responsibilities between the parents, it is unlikely that your husband has an authority to give you a power of attorney that is any good for anything. But, even if the power of attorney is valid for most matters involving third parties, it doesn't have any validity against the other parent unless there is a court order giving your husband exclusive parental authority (what many states other than Colorado call "sole legal custody"). It isn't clear what you mean by saying the mother "wants to put him on child support", but until there is a court order stating who is responsible for what financial obligations there is no clear obligation. That should have been done long ago, so there is no legitimate complaint about the mother finally getting around to doing something.... Read More

The relevant section of Missouri Law is 452.340. When a child turns 18 they are still entitled to child support if they are still attending high school. If they have completed high school, then we wait until October 1st of that year to see if they are enrolled in and actually attending and passing at least 12 credit hours of college or vocational school. If not, then that child is emancipated as of October 1st (as long as they are not disabled in some way). Upon emancipation, the child support order is deemed terminated when: 1) the paying parent files a sworn statement of emancipation with the court, and 2) the Court serves a copy of the statement upon the receiving parent, and 3) the receiving parent agrees in writing, or 4) the receiving parent fails to respond at all within thirty days. You should take action yourself to file your sworn statement of emancipation and not rely upon the other parent or the "system" to lower or stop your child support order. Also, if you are paying for more than one child and the current order does not specify a certain amount for each child, then when one child becomes emancipated, the order must be modified to change the amount for the remaining minor child(ren). Hope this helps.... Read More