St. Charles Divorce Law Blog

The state of Missouri realizes that fathers are important. While other places in the country have taken measures to support fathers and matters regarding paternity, most companies in Missouri still do not offer paid paternal leave. This can place an unfair burden on new dads and deprive an infant of critical bonding time. Besides, Mom would probably love an extra set of hands around to help as she recovers from the birth. 

New research indicates that having Dad around can be beneficial. Lower rates of infant death, better results with breastfeeding, and even a decreased risk of postpartum depression for Mom are now attributed to allowing a man to take advantage of paid paternal leave. Now, there is a push in Missouri to promote paid paternity leave. 

Many Missouri families might be excited to learn about some changes on the horizon. Adoption is a legal process and falls under the category of family law. Families want to adopt for a myriad of reasons, and children in need of a loving family may have to wait a long time for that dream to become reality. 

Adoption is currently a rather expensive endeavor. Some lawmakers are hoping to change that. They have proposed changes to make adoption a less expensive process so that more children can find loving families. 

With the end of the school year fast approaching, Missouri parents are making plans to keep their little ones entertained during the summer months. For those who are divorced, paying for activities such as summer camps and vacation can be a challenge for the custodial parent. One way to help meet this need is for the non-custodial parent to make timely and accurate child support payments. 

Currently, if a parent falls behind on payments, he or she can face consequences in criminal court. Fines, a loss of driving privileges and jail time are some of the ways a court can punish a parent for non-payment. Many parents are asking the state of Missouri to change the way delinquent child support cases are handled. This is because some of these consequences, especially losing a driver's license, only makes them fall further behind, causing a child to go without even longer. 

Missouri is trying to ensure that progress continues to be made when it comes to families that reside within the state. A new bill, which supporters hope will soon be made a law, revolves around how courts handle child custody. Currently, it is not against the norm for one parent to have more custody than the other, but many parents insist such policy is unfair. 

Under the new bill, 50/50 custody would become the norm, unless the court is made aware of a legitimate reason that a child would be better off spending most of his or her time with one parent. A judge will now have a list of criteria to consider. If each parent can meet a child's needs, 50/50 custody will become the status quo.