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

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

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Thursday, November 29, 2018. Usually, when Missouri parents get a divorce, they either share physical custody or one has physical custody while the other has visitation rights. There are actually two kinds of custody. Legal custody refers to which parent has the right to decide what religion the child will be raised in, what kind of medical care the child will get and other major issues. Physical custody refers to where the child lives. The child lives with the parent who has physical custody, but if parents do not share physical custody, this

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. Couples in Missouri who cohabit before they get married might be more likely to get a divorce, according to a new study. The results of the study, which seemingly dispels popular notions about relationships, were published in the September edition of the Journal of Marriage and Family. Researchers found that the couples who cohabited were more likely to face struggles during marriage. The only time in which this does not appear to be true is in the first year of matrimony. Spouses who did not live together tend to

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Monday, September 17, 2018. Couples in Missouri may hesitate to create a prenuptial agreement because they are worried about how their families will react or even that the agreement could increase the chance they will get a divorce. They might also worry about revealing their own financial problems such as bankruptcy. However, a prenup can build communication between a couple along with important protections if they do divorce. If one person is likely to accumulate debt, a prenup can establish that the other spouse will not be responsible for that debt in the

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Divorce on Friday, September 7, 2018. When people in Missouri are planning to get married, some think that they should choose a special date for their weddings. Recent research indicates that doing so is correlated with a higher likelihood of getting divorced, however. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne, couples who choose specific dates such as Valentine’s Day are likelier to divorce. The researchers analyzed data from 1 million couples who married. Of the couples who married on Valentine’s Day, 11 percent had gotten divorced within five years and 21