St. Charles Family Law Blog

A complex Missouri divorce is draining for everyone involved, especially if each parent wants sole custody of the children or one parent demands at least joint custody. The team at Turken & Porzenski, L.L.C., has experience helping clients navigate the turbulent nature of child custody and visitation.

Although courts do not automatically award custody to the mother, you still may have an uphill battle when fighting for visitation and custody rights. VeryWell family has assembled tips to help fathers prepare when filing for full or joint custody.

• Making consistent support payments is at the top of the requirements list. Even if the arrangement is informal, you should keep making payments on the agreed upon schedule. Maintain records, keep proof of cashed checks, transferred amounts and any correspondence to corroborate you are upholding the agreement.
• If there is an agreed upon parenting plan that contains a visitation schedule, stick to it. If there is nothing in place, develop one for submission to the court. This signals that you take responsibility to your children seriously
• Spend time with your children and participate in their lives. Attend school functions, speak with their teachers and coaches and know their friends. If you spend most of their time with you working or pursuing your own activities without your children, they will likely side to stay with their mother when asked about their preferences by the court.
• Be honest with yourself about your capabilities. If you have responsibilities that keep you away from home or traveling frequently, pushing for joint or full custody may not work well for you or your children.

There are countless reasons why marriages crumble, but some divorces are very unique. For example, a spouse may move to another country, whether they want to live in the country they grew up in or they have decided to relocate across the world for work. When someone heads abroad for a long period of time, their marriage may fall apart. Affairs, uncertainty, anger about the decision and growing apart are some of the reasons why this decision can adversely affect a marital relationship. If you are in this position, you should review your options carefully.

Not only can divorce issues be tough for those who stay behind, but people living in another country may be unsure of what to do when they learn that their spouse wants to end the marriage. Moreover, these divorces can be particularly tough when kids are involved, especially when it comes to child custody. You should always work to protect your interests and obtain the most favorable outcome and realize how much may be at stake during your divorce. Property division, child support and attending court are just some of the matters that can be complicated for couples who are going through this.

If you’re a non-custodial parent in Missouri, you are probably making child support payments to your ex-spouse. This can be a frustrating process, especially if you disagree with the way the custodial parent is spending the money you provide. Fatherly.com offers the following tips to ensure your child support obligation doesn’t negatively impact your relationship with your kids.

Payment should never be withheld

There are many things to go into the true value of an asset, but some are more complex than others. If you were to consider divorce in St. Charles County, Missouri, it would be important to consider all of these financial aspects for each line item. That way, you have the best hope of maintaining your way of life after you and your spouse separate.

Certain assets would be relatively easy to decide. For example, you might distribute a joint bank account evenly, with half to you half to your ex. However, that would probably not be the case when it comes to other things, such as businesses, securities or unique pieces of property. Here is how you might handle these special cases.