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

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Friday, July 26, 2019. While many couples in Missouri divorce over disagreements about money or children, some have more unusual reasons for separating. Some divorce lawyers are turning to an online forum to report the most unusual or petty reasons they’ve seen for seeking a separation. For example, one man complained that he hated the sound his wife made when she was chewing at the dinner table. Another man claimed his wife had attempted to place a curse on him. A woman said she had decided to divorce her husband because the dog

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Thursday, July 11, 2019. Some Missouri residents may be aware that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie Bezos, an author, were going through a divorce. On July 5, three months after the couple announced on Twitter that they had reached a settlement, a judge finalized the dissolution. In April, MacKenzie Bezos said on Twitter that Jeff Bezos would keep 75% of their shared stock and would keep voting control of her shares even after the property division. MacKenzie Bezos will keep a 4% stake with a worth of over $38 billion. This makes

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Monday, June 24, 2019. In Missouri and across the United States, divorce is an emotional experience that leaves many spouses feeling lost and confused. From asset protection to child custody issues, divorce can seem overwhelming emotionally and physically. Couples with student loans need to address the issue concerning which spouse bears the legal responsibility for resolving the student loan debt. A couple may not realize that a student loan debt existing before their marriage does not belong to both spouses. In this case, a judge typically decides that the spouse with the student

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Recently divorced parents in Missouri can take steps to make the transition into a two-home life easier on their kids. First, parents should make it easy for children to keep up with the schedule. For younger kids, a large calendar posted in a common area can help. Older children may want to keep track with their Google calendars or other apps. Parents can facilitate a smoother transition by making sure the kids don’t have to pack every time they go back and forth between their homes. Having to repeatedly

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Monday, May 13, 2019. Women in Missouri may be more likely to make more money than their husbands did in previous generations, but this does not make their marriages more stable. Marriages in which wives earn more than their husbands could be more likely to end in divorce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that around 38% of wives are bigger earners than their husbands. However, attitudes toward husbands who are not the main breadwinners in the family have not kept up with these changes. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 25%

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Monday, April 29, 2019. The decision to divorce can be troubling and difficult for many people in Missouri. For the 25% of American mothers who stay at home to raise their children and the 7% of fathers who do the same, the end of a marriage can be particularly worrying. They have spent years outside of the workforce, and, as a result, they may face a much more difficult time obtaining a competitive salary after seeking a job. They may also need additional education or training in order to obtain employment that can

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Thursday, April 18, 2019. St. Louis residents may be interested in Jeff Bezos’ divorce and the lessons that divorcing couples can learn. One lesson that this high-asset divorce teaches people is the importance of the divorcing couple forming their own unified narrative. Both Jeff and his wife came out with a joint statement explaining that although they were getting a divorce, they were going to remain friends. This aimed to put and end to speculation and to people taking sides publicly about the divorce. The reason why this could be a good idea,

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Thursday, March 21, 2019. Ending a marriage is rarely simple for Missouri couples. There are a number of factors that should be considered in addition to the social and emotional toll divorce takes on an individual. One of the biggest factors is the expense. Whether a person uses an attorney or not, divorce almost always involves taking a financial hit. However, if a divorcing couple plans ahead, they may be able to save themselves money. The cost of a divorce in the United States is about $15,000 per person on average. This cost includes things

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The good news for most couples planning to tie the knot in Missouri is that overall divorce rates have declined over the past few decades. However, this isn’t true among one notable age group: individuals 50 and over. While the term “gray divorce” was first used around 2004, it’s a trend that has existed longer than that. The stigma attached to ending a marriage has diminished, but this isn’t the only reason why some people choose to split later in life. Finances, for instance, can contribute to the decision

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Friday, February 22, 2019. Almost half a million gay couples around the country have married since the U.S. Supreme Court made its landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. Research suggests that same-sex couples divorce at about the same rate as heterosexual couples, which means that almost half of these couples have already divorced or will divorce in the future. This is a delicate legal issue because the rules dealing with same-sex divorce are still evolving in Missouri and elsewhere. Before the Supreme Court ended the debate about the legality of same-sex

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Monday, February 4, 2019. Missouri residents who are getting a divorce should take care to avoid certain mistakes during the process. These mistakes can result in very costly consequences in the future. Having certain records on hand is necessary to make informed decisions about certain divorce issues. Once divorce seems inevitable, it is important that individuals begin to obtain records that detail the balances and account numbers for all financial accounts. It is also necessary to have on hand Social Security documents that report a spouse’s earning records and expected benefit payout for

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Older people in Missouri, including those who have been in long-term marriages, are getting divorced in increasing numbers. Two sociologists determined that in 1990 only about 10 percent of people getting divorced were 50 or older. Just 25 years later, the figure had grown to 25 percent. Among these gray divorces, over half of them involve couples with marriages of over 20 years. People at this point in their lives typically have multiple assets when they seek divorces. Real estate and retirement accounts represent two common forms of wealth

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. If one person in a couple is significantly more attractive than the other, this could eventually cause problems in the relationship. An article in “Psychology Today” reported that according to research, couples who are not at similar levels of attractiveness are less likely to have a successful relationship. This was the case despite the fact that in one study, husbands with more attractive wives, as rated by undergraduates, tended to be happier and more helpful to their wives than other husbands. Other research indicated that women who considered themselves

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Wednesday, December 12, 2018. Divorce can be difficult for anyone who is going through it. However, Missouri residents and others will need to be aware of key recent tax changes that may play a role in a divorce settlement. Perhaps the most well-known change is that alimony will no longer be a tax deduction for the payer. This could mean that those who are asked to make such payments will pay less than in previous years. Those who are set to receive payments may try harder to get as much as possible since