Two men are facing charges after allegedly killing a man they found in a home they were intent on ransacking. Both the accused, who are from the Madison County area in Missouri, have been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed robbery and one count of home invasion. They will both need to mount a strong criminal defense to fight the charges.
Are women more successful by keeping the home after divorce?
Past studies indicate that nationwide, including in Missouri, women take a harder financial hit than men as a result of getting divorced. One study even observed a drop in post-divorce income for women while men had increases in their income after the divorce. One thing that some experts criticize is the tendency of women to want to retain the marital residence coming out of a divorce.
Am I entitled to a portion of my ex’s retirement?
You supported your spouse for many years, working to help put him through college and then forgoing your own education to raise the children and take care of the home. Now that your marriage has ended, you are having difficulty finding a place in the workforce. Understandably, you feel cheated out of a secure future, and you worry about retirement since you didn’t work long enough to contribute much to your Social Security retirement fund. You (like many other Missouri residents) may want to know if you can receive retirement benefits from your ex.
How to begin the process of discussing divorce with a spouse
How does one go about raising the issue of divorce with one's spouse? Because many men and women have struggled with that question, a lot of deceptive and hurtful methods have been chosen. If fact, some experts believe that there are spouses who choose to have an affair just to get caught and thereby end the marriage by having the other person demand a divorce. This avoids having to engage in one-to-one discussions about what went wrong and what to do going forward. It's not a good way to go about it, yet the strategy occurs repeatedly both in Missouri and elsewhere, whether it be a conscious or subconscious strategy by the offender.
Helping your children through divorce
Divorce can be a heart-wrenching process, especially when children are in the picture. You may fear you will not be able to help your kids. Thankfully, you can do a lot to help your children cope with the breakup of your marriage.
Child custody and parental rights may be terminated if necessary
In Missouri, the family law courts will decide which parent gets child custody when the parents are disputing such rights. All states authorize child services agencies to petition the family law or juvenile court for termination of a parent's parental rights. Due to the general policy of the legislature in each state to encourage the preservation of the family bond between biological parents and their children, the courts do not lightly grant child custody to third parties nor do they readily approve termination of parental rights petitions.
Changes in divorce negotiations may prompt rush to file in 2018
Many people in Missouri and throughout the country may be escalating their divorce plans to finalize their settlement agreements prior to Dec. 31, 2018. That is the date on which certain tax benefits will be eliminated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. At that time, for example, the tax break traditionally given to those who pay alimony will be eliminated, making divorce negotiations more difficult and perhaps more damaging to those who counted on alimony as a significant source of support post-divorce.
