Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

Custody arrangement changing from pre-divorce to after divorce

All things equal. My friend and her husband have aired their dirty laundry and mistakes during their depositions. Final divorce is scheduled for later this week. She has professional witnesses (i.e. pastor, lawyer for drug testing agency, psychologist, etc.) Her husbands witnesses are his brothers and friends. Okay whatever. They have both made mistakes but neither one more than the other. They've been seperated for 8 months and she has had custody everyday but Sundays and Wednesdays. For divorce, she would be happy with letting her husband have the kids Wednesdays and every other weekend. QUESTION: What are the chances that a judge would rule more favorably in her husbands favor?


Asked on 11/04/02, 4:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Reiter

Re: Custody arrangement changing from pre-divorce to after divorce

Unfortunately, you haven't provided enough facts to answer your question with any degree of accuracy. Custody determinations are very fact-oriented as the judge is looking out for the "best interests of the child." If both parties are seeking primary physical custody and neither party is the obvious choice, it is often best to work out a Separation Agreement where the two parents agree on a custody arrangement that they can both live with. Otherwise, they leave it in the hands of a judge and one of them may be very disappointed in the result. I would have your friend ask her attorney this question. The attorney should be able to give her a better answer than anyone else.

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Answered on 11/04/02, 5:20 pm


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