Domestic Relations: Child Custody - Modification - Jurisdiction 
Hightower v. Myers, et al. (MLW No. 60347/Case No. SC89951 - 14 pages)
(1)Where a mother appealed after a trial court entered a modification of child custody to grant the Missouri father physical custody of the couple’s child during the school year after the mother relocated several times in New Jersey and then to Georgia and [...]
Domestic Relations: Child Neglect - Supervision - Sufficiency Of Evidence
T.J. v. Department of Social Services, Children’s Division (MLW No. 60246/Case No. ED93105 - 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, P.J.)
Where a mother left her 6-year-old child alone overnight while she visited a friend, the evidence was sufficient to support a finding of neglect based on lack of supervision despite the mother’s [...]
Domestic Relations: Prenuptial Agreement - Validity - Child Custody
Potts v. Potts (MLW No. 60268/Case No. WD70196 - 29 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, per curiam)
(1)Where a parenting plan awarded a father the parenting time that he wanted with his children, it is not necessary to find error or remand for correction the trial court’s designation of the mother as having “sole [...]
Domestic Relations: Marital Property - Division - Presumption Of Correctness
Skaggs v. Skaggs (MLW No. 60046/Case No. SD29604 - 9 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Burrell, J.)
Where a trial court in a dissolution ordered payment of $17,000 from husband to wife to make the overall property distribution equitable, husband’s argument that no evidence showed that wife’s separate property still existed reflected a misunderstanding [...]
Domestic Relations: Maintenance - Reasonable Needs - Depletion Of Assets
Coffman v. Coffman (MLW No. 60058/Case No. WD70028 - 10 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Howard, J.)
Where a wife had no separate property and the husband depleted most of the parties’ assets during the marriage and the wife was employed in the best job she has had, the evidence was sufficient that wife [...]
Civil Practice: Jurisdiction- Wrongful Death - McCracken
State ex rel. Dolgencorp, Inc. v. Sharp (Case No. SD29398 - 4 pages)
Where plaintiffs filed a wrongful death and negligence action against their daughter’s employer after she was shot while working, the claim is a civil case and under McCracken v. Wal-Mart Stores East, the trial court has subject matter jurisdiction, so the preliminary order in [...]
Civil Practice: Motion To Amend - Timeliness - Domestic Case
Eldieb v. Firozi (MLW No. 60010/Case No. WD70651 - 3 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, J.)
Where a husband filed a motion to amend the judgment dissolving his marriage or in the alternative for a new trial, to the extent that the husband sought a new trial, the motion was untimely because it [...]
Domestic Relations: Child Support - Emancipation - Vocational School
Wilkins v. Wilkins (MLW No. 59997/Case No. ED92092 - 9 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Cohen, J.)
Where a college student attending a vocational school took a 10-week break, which was the length of the school’s terms, and the student sought financing during the break and re-enrolled at the first opportunity, the record did [...]
Domestic Relations: Dissolution - Division Of Property - Discovery Sanction
Rogers v. Rogers (MLW No. 59968/Case No. SD29356 - 18 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Lynch, P.J.)
Where a husband involved in a dissolution argued that the trial court improperly excluded his testimony on a down payment made by him on a farm bought prior to his marriage, the trial court did not abuse [...]
Domestic Relations: Child Support Modification - Required Findings - Waiver
Crow v. Crow (MLW No. 59951 - 8 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Sullivan, J.)
Where a trial judge ruled that one of a divorced couple’s four children was emancipated but he did not change the child support amount the father owed nor did the judge provide any findings detailing how he arrived at [...]