St. Charles Divorce Law Blog

A proposed state law would allow parents to seek outside help for caring for their children without facing charges of abuse or neglect. A Missouri state senator has introduced a bill that allows parents to give up their custody rights temporarily if they are unable to care for their children while they seek help for drug addiction or work to resolve any other major issues affecting their lives and livelihood. The practice is already used in the state, but the law would give a legal shelter against charges of child abandonment or neglect. 

Any parents who find themselves temporarily unable to provide care for their children, whether it is due to homelessness, a job loss, addiction rehabilitation or some other serious matter, may be able to use a power of attorney to temporarily give custody rights to a third party. If the process is followed, the parent would not be subject to charges of child abuse, neglect or abandonment. The parent would not lose his or her custodial rights, and there would be no financial cost to the state. 

One man in another state is without his daughter after an incident with Child Protective Services that was recently highlighted in the news. The man claims that he was tricked into signing away custody rights in a moment of duress and that he did not understand the document he was signing. He is now taking the matter to court. Missouri fathers who aren't able to see their own children may find themselves empathizing with the man's situation. 

According to reports, the man needed to temporarily place his child with family friends after his wife had a heart attack. During that time, a teacher reported to CPS that the child smelled like a cat. The Department of Social Services then visited the man and, according to the father, forced him to sign a Custody and Visitation Agreement. He says he thought that he was giving his father custody until he was able to get back home from caring for his wife, but he was actually signing away his rights. 

Ending a marriage is never easy. When two people have built a life together, it can take a bit of strategy to untangle the threads. One facet of divorce is property division, where the two parties divide the marital assets between them. Retirement accounts and investment accounts typically represent the divorcing couple's largest collection of funds. In Missouri, each type of account has its own rules for separation, and by following the rules, an individual can avoid common mistakes that could potentially reduce his or her portion of the sum.

In order to split a 401(k), an order called the Qualified Domestic Relations Order must be filed. Each account should have its own order. This will typically be filed along with the divorce settlement. The QDRO allows the transfer of the funds from one account to another. The document is usually drafted by a professional -- often a lawyer, and will need to be written so that it matches the intent of the divorce order. 

The process of divorce can be a challenging time when two individuals determine how the shared property will be divided. After the dust clears, one or both partners could be left with a sum of funds that will need to fully or partially finance their lifestyles for years to come. By choosing to invest one's portion of the marital assets, a Missouri resident may be able to get more mileage from the share of the divorce settlement that he or she receives. 

Both parties will likely need to adjust to financial changes post-divorce. Essentially, two households will need to be maintained from the same pool of income that previously supported only one. For the less financially sophisticated partner, the transition can be a bit more challenging.