Feb 18, 2022 | Virtual Coffee Break
If have a child and you are on Soberlink by court order, here is what you need to remember: you are on Soberlink (a form of breathalyzer to detect alcohol use) because concern has been raised about your drinking. You may be convinced that your drinking is just social:...
Feb 7, 2022 | Virtual Coffee Break
Now that St. Louis County requires two hours of mediation in contested child custody cases, it is important to understand what exactly the court means by “mediation.” It turns out that what they mean is what every attorney understands it to mean, as I...
Jan 7, 2022 | Virtual Coffee Break
It is not uncommon in St. Louis County for the Judge to appoint a Guardian ad Litem (“GAL”) in a family law case. While the GAL is commonly referred to as the child’s attorney, the GAL in fact represents the best interests of the child. I have been a GAL and dealt...
Nov 18, 2021 | Virtual Coffee Break
In Missouri, child support starts with the calculation of the Presumed Amount of Support using the Form 14. To calculate the Presumed Support, the starting point is the gross income of the parents. The Directions on Use for the Form 14 specifically provide that Social...
Nov 16, 2021 | Virtual Coffee Break
IF YOU HAVE SOLE OR JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY OF YOUIR CHILD AND WANT TO CHANGE THEIR RESIDENCE, YOU MUST DO THESE THINGS In Missouri, there is a very specific law that sets forth what needs to happen for the sole or joint custodian of a child to lawfully change the...
Nov 8, 2021 | Virtual Coffee Break
In November of 2021, the Missouri Court of Appeals handed down an important decision. It found that in the divorce of two women, the non-biological mother had the right to both legal and physical custody of a child born during the marriage even though no adoption had...
