Recent Posts in Divorce Category
Posted on Apr 24, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
From the Wall Street Journal: ALBANY, N.Y. — New York's top court says a divorced Manhattan lawyer is stuck with his losses from an investment with disgraced financier Bernard Madoff that ...
Continue reading "Madoff investment does not reopen divorce settlement" »
Posted on Apr 23, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
To show transmutation of separate property to marital property requires evidence of owner’s clear intent to contribute the property. Commingling is not enough. Wife’s contributions to ...
Continue reading "Separate Property not Transmuted into Marital Property" »
Posted on Apr 17, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
New Case Law: CB v. DB Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District - SD31614 Notwithstanding the fact that the Missouri case law generally states that tax benefits must go to the custodial spouse ...
Continue reading "Awarding Tax Dependencey Credit to non-custodial spouse: No income shown" »
Posted on Apr 9, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Under § 452.377, RSMo, relocation of child’s residence requires strict compliance to statutorily required notice before strict compliance with time to file objection to relocation is ...
Continue reading "Missouri relocation statute requires strict compliance with notice" »
Posted on Apr 4, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Under section 455.010(13), "stalking" occurs when any person purposely and repeatedly engages in an unwanted course of conduct that causes alarm to another person when it is reasonable in ...
Continue reading "Mere harrassment insufficient for restraining orders" »
Posted on Feb 27, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
A child was born to a Russian citizen in West Virginia. Father was a Missouri resident and a support order was sought for the child through the Department of Social Services (DSS), which established ...
Continue reading "Missouri child support enforcement applies to foreign children" »
Posted on Feb 19, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
In a recent ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Southern District, a division of property and debt where the Wife received 93% of the assets and 27% of the debts, and the Husband received ...
Continue reading "Grossly disproportionate assets division overturned on appeal" »
Posted on Feb 17, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
In a divorce proceeding, a personal injury settlement can be a major asset that will have to be divided between the parties. Missouri uses the "analytical" approach to determine whether the ...
Continue reading "Division of Personal Injury Settlements in Divorce" »
Posted on Feb 13, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
It has become customary in contract of all kinds to include a provision that no representations have been made unless expressly written in the contract and that the terms of the contract cannot be ...
Continue reading "Divorce settlement agreements must be drafted with care" »
Posted on Feb 9, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Separation Agreement gave Amway distributorship to Wife for monthly payments to Husband. That payment was considered support because nothing else provided maintenance, the payment was in installments, ...
Continue reading "Debt Set Over to Spouse Non-dischargable in Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
In a decision by the Supreme Court of Missouri, the Court held that a spouse's contribution to otherwise separate property creates a marital interest that can be divided by the Court. In Missouri, ...
Continue reading "Spouse's contributions to non-maritable property" »
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
With so many people facing bankruptcy in the current climate, it may be good news to know (depending on which side you are on, of course) that the bankruptcy does not allow a person owing a domestic ...
Continue reading "Family support obligations and bankruptcy" »
Posted on Jan 14, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Most states, like Kansas, have enacted a version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). A few, like Missouri, still have the predecessor act, the UCCJA, which operates ...
Continue reading "Court lacked personal jurisdiction to order child support" »
Posted on Jan 10, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Trusts where the children are beneficiaries cannot be divided in divorce. The Circuit Court does not have authority to divide assets that are not owned by either spouse in a dissolution of marriage. ...
Continue reading "The children's trust cannot be divided in the divorce" »
Posted on Jan 8, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
In Kansas, generally the parents will be ordered to alternate years for claiming the children regardless of who is the custodial parent. Generally, this seems the fairest approach since it would be a ...
Continue reading "Who gets to claim children on taxes--differences in MO and KS law" »
Posted on Jan 5, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
In divorce cases, Kansas law allows an award of attorneys fees (ordering one party to pay the other's attorneys fees) "as justice may require." This means that the judge has broad ...
Continue reading "Attorney fee shifting in Kansas and Missouri divorce cases" »
Posted on Jan 3, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Under Missouri Law, certain property is considered to be non-marital, and not part of the division of the marital estate in a divorce proceeding. Non-marital property includes property: Acquired ...
Continue reading "Missouri increases in value of non-marital property will be divided only to the extent of marital contributions" »
Posted on Jan 1, 2012 By Jerry Wallentine
Value of a closely-held corporation must be as fair market value and application of a calculation of value via a buy-sell agreement not related to fair market value is error. Wood v. Wood , No. 96218 ...
Continue reading "Valuation of Closely held Corporation in divorce" »
Posted on Dec 27, 2011 By Jerry Wallentine
An agreement that maintenance will terminate "only" upon death excludes application of statute for termination of maintenance upon remarriage. Simpson v. Simpson , No. 91498 (Mo. banc, ...
Continue reading "Marital settlement agreement governs when maintenance may terminate" »
Posted on Dec 22, 2011 By Jerry Wallentine
As you may know, prenuptial or antenuptial agreements, colloquially referred to as prenups, are generally contracts entered by parties prior to their marriage (or civil union in some states). The ...
Continue reading "Do I need a prenuptual agreement?" »
Posted on Dec 19, 2011 By Jerry Wallentine
Divorce filings always seem to decrease around Christmas time. There may be many reasons, including some that we hear such as wanting to keep the family together for one last holiday, or feeling ...
Continue reading "Yuletide season slows divorce filings" »