St. Louis County & Midwest Family Law Blog

In Saint Louis and other areas in the Midwest, divorce can bring about some of the most contentious and emotional issues. Take, for example, child custody disputes. While parents should be focused on the needs and best interests of the child or children involved in the divorce process, the reality is that children could be improperly used to be hurtful and spiteful against an ex. In other cases, a parent may fight to keep a child with them because they truly believe that would serve their best interests. No matter the reason, when a child custody dispute arises and a custody order is violated, dire consequences can arise, as seen in one recent case.

There, a man from Aurora was charged with child abduction. This charge stemmed from a supposed child custody dispute that occurred last month. It is unclear if this dispute was related to the holidays that recently occurred. Preliminary reports indicate that the 48-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of child abduction, which is a class four felony.

Many things are on the minds of parents during the holidays. For many, it is to ensure that their children are able to spend quality time with their children, celebrating it with as much joy as possible. The holidays can be a challenging time for parents whose relationship has hit a breaking point; however, even when an impending end is near, many parents will hold off on filing for divorce until after the holidays.

January is known as divorce month, and many family law firms gear up during this time of year to prepare for the influx in divorce filing. The first half of January is when law firms see a huge uptick in new clients and divorce filings. According to Google trends, it is also the time when "divorce parties" is searched for the most. In fact, this query rose 21% from December 2018 to January 2019. A similar increase is expected for this upcoming January.

Third-party visitation rights are an important part of the child custody process to be familiar with. Referred to as third-party visitation rights, nonparent visitation rights or sometimes grandparent visitation, parents and families facing child custody concerns should be familiar with all of the different types of child custody, including third-party child custody.

Third-party, or grandparent, visitation rights can include other family members as well. In addition to third-party visitation, third-party custody may also be possible in certain situations based on certain circumstances if it is in the best interests of the child. Third-party, or grandparent, visitation rights oftentimes come up when the child's parents are divorced and the custodial parent may not want the grandparents in the child's life. If the children would benefit from having their grandparents in their life, and the family law court determines the grandparent or third-party custody request would be in the best interests of the child, the third-party visitation request may be granted.

For noncustodial parents, a child support obligation can take a financial toll. Even those parents who agree to a certain amount of child support, the weekly payments can quickly eat into savings and make it difficult to build a financial safety net. This is especially true when changed circumstances reduce a noncustodial parent's income. Whether on account of reduced hours or decreased pay, noncustodial parents who see their income drop may be able to successfully seek a child support modification, which would reduce their weekly obligation.

One group of people may be able to secure this modification relatively quickly: those who are called into emergency military service. Under Missouri law, an individual is called into emergency military service when he or she is a member of the National Guard or some sort of other reserve unit and is called up to active military duty for a period of time in excess of 30 days. If this occurs, then the individual needs to secure a notarized letter from his or her commanding officer. This letter must specify when the emergency military service commenced as well as the noncustodial parent's income.