Springfield Divorce & Family Law Blog

Noncustodial parents in Missouri and elsewhere sometimes resort to drastic and illegal measures to spend more time with their children. A noncustodial father allegedly took his young son away from the child's mother in Texas in late 2017 without her knowledge and brought him to Florida. After more than a year, Florida law enforcement has now found the child and placed him in custody with Child Protective Services pending a reunion with his mother. 

For reasons that are unclear, it was only last week that Texas law enforcement filed the child's case as abduction by a noncustodial parent, despite the child's mother filing multiple reports against the father for interference with child custody beginning in January 2018. Following the father's alleged abduction of his child, a court granted the mother sole custody in February 2018.

Most people who live in Missouri know someone personally who has gotten divorced or who may be in the midst of a divorce even now. Contrary to what some people may believe, more and more of these people are in their 50s, 60s or even older. Interestingly, in the last two decades, the number of people getting divorced after they reach the age of 50 continues to increase. In fact, according to data from Pew Research, the rate of divorce among people 50 or older is actually 109 percent higher today than it was a quarter of a century ago.

Getting divorced at any age can have a significant impact on a person financially. Getting divorced when a person is close to retirement or maybe has even already retired has a particularly significant financial impact on people. As explained by Forbes, this is a stage of life at which a person either has a reduced income, a fixed income or even a limited number of years left in which to reclaim any financial losses experienced during a divorce. 

If you and your spouse in Missouri have made the hard decision to end your marriage and you have children together, one of the hardest things you will be faced with is telling your kids about the divorce and then subsequently supporting them as they adjust to the changes that are sure to come. There is no one way to do this in part because children need different things at different ages. If you have a preschool-aged child, you will want to keep things simple and be prepared for repeat conversations.

As explained by Today's Parent, the world of a three-year-old is a relatively self-centered and concrete one. When you initially share with your child that you and their other parent are not going to be living together anymore, you should be ready to discuss the child's everyday life. For example, you should let your child know who will take them to school, who will read them a bedtime story and if you are still going to a grandparent's house for dinner every Sunday.

Springfield clients often come to us here at the Stange Law Firm PC with a similar question: How can I modify my custody agreement? At the time of your divorce, the court likely handed down a custodial arrangement that, while taking yours and your ex-spouse's feelings into account, was deemed to be in the best interests of your children. That arrangement likely took some getting used to, but the hope is that eventually you were able to collectively make it work. Circumstances do change, however, and now you may be discovering that what did accommodate you before no longer does. You likely now share the aforementioned question. 

According to the website for the Judicial Branch of Missouri's state government, custody orders can be modified by petition. It is recommended that you work with your ex-spouse to come up with a new arrangement that is acceptable to the both of you. You then must submit a "Motion to Modify Child Custody" (state form CAFC101) to the court that has jurisdiction over your case. If both you and your ex-spouse are in agreement about the proposed modifications, the court can approve your petition without needing to have a hearing (the only exception to this may be when major modifications are proposed, such as changing the children's primary residence).