Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

My sister who lives in Missouri had a very unpleasant divorce from her husband. They have three kids together, one 18, one 14, and one 10. She brought the subject up to the judge of moving to California where her 18 year old daughter and boyfriend live informally in the privacy of his chambers but the judge said it was too far to be considered. She filed an official petition to move. She requested she could move to California or to Oklahoma (that is where her entire side of the family lives.) She adjusted the visitation schedule to where he would only lose one day and said he would not have to pay child support for any of the children and she would pay for half the amount of the plane tickets for visitation back and forth. However, her ex-husband still objected so it would have to go to court, but the judge said that if she tried to come to court to present her case that he would take her kids away and give the ex-husband full custody because he had already said no to California. However, my sister had new information on a much higher paying job there and wanted to ask about Oklahoma, which is only three hours away and she would have social support for her and the kids. So, even though a court date was set, she did not show in fear that she would lose her children. This is not fair that the judge won�t consider any move at all even though it is in the best interest of the parent and children. The ex-husband is not consistent with child support and he has not done everything the court mandated him to do in the original court hearing for the divorce, but besides some companies garnishing his wages (which means the children don�t receive any support from him) no recourse has been taken by the court to make him follow the court mandate given by the judge. He is not obey his court orders so why should she be obligated to stay, and how can a judge threaten someone like that for following the legal procedures? What legal recourse can we pursue?


Asked on 12/26/12, 10:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

This fact situation sounds bizarre. If you did not personally hear these statements from the judge, you must assume you have misunderstood what was said. However, they sound serious enough, that they should be brought to the attention of her attorney. If she has no legal counsel, I advise that you help her get an attorney.

Good luck

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Answered on 12/28/12, 5:52 am


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