Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma Fathers' Rights & Divorce Law Blog

Most readers are probably aware that, when it comes to property division, different states have different rules. A small group of states utilize an approach to property division known as "community property," which generally involves an equal division of marital assets. Most states, including Missouri, use an approach generally referred to as equitable distribution.

Under the language of Missouri's property division statute, courts "divide the marital property and marital debts in such proportions as the court deems just after considering all relevant factors." There are a variety of factors listed in the statue, and it important for those entering into divorce to have a solid understanding of these and other relevant factors in order to build the best possible case representing their rights and interests. 

When a person has child support obligations, struggles when it comes to meeting these obligations can have major impacts for them. This can particularly be the case if the struggles result in them falling behind on their payments.

Missed payments could lead to a person who owes child support facing child support enforcement proceedings and collection actions (like wage garnishment). As a note though, being subjected to such proceedings and actions is not the only thing falling behind on child support payments could result in for a parent.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed House Bill 1550 into law, which will help promote more shared custody and visitation agreements between divorcing parents. The goal of the law is to ensure that fathers are not cut out of the parenting process by unfair and out-of-date custody or visitation agreements.

Research has shown that children of divorce adapt better when both parents are involved in their lives and this law is designed to help judges come to custody determinations that maximize the time the children spend with each parent.

One of the problematic issues of divorce is that it affect so many aspects of your life. You may have to change where you live, the type of car you drive, your relationship with your children, your economic lifestyle, and your future economic situation including your retirement. It even can affect your Social Security benefits.

All of this occurs on top of the emotional upheaval you are also going through, and because of that many people may skip over some of those important financial details. They may find too overwhelming and believe that they can address it at a later time when they are in a better place.