Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri
Good morning. My husband and I need help preparing a document to modify visitation rights in St. Louis County, Missouri. We want to file the document ourselves, but have been told by the courts that there is not a form to complete. Where can we get the information and format needed? Please advise. Thanks so much!
1 Answer from Attorneys
With all due respect, I would strongly advise you to hire an attorney to assist you with whatever legal matter you are considering handling on your own. The very wording of your question is a good inication of the difficulties that await you if you proceed "pro se". for instance, your question leads off with "My husband and I . . . ", which suggests that the two of you somehow have the same legal interests and legal rights concerning "visitation rights". If there is a Court order in place granting legal rights to either one of you that person woudl be the one seekinga modification of the existing Court Order.
Secondy, unless that Court Order is very old, it probably includes a Parenting Plan that sets out the specific terms of the parenting time to be enjoyed by each parent, not "visitation", which is a term that was widely used for many years.
Thirdly, your question suggests a mindset that everything is a matter of filling in forms, which is a dangerous misconception that many people, including some judges, are laboring under.
You ask where you can get the information you need, and I can only tell you that I obtained the basic information I need by working my way through law school, passing bar exams, and representing thousands of people with their domestic legal problems over the last thirty-three years, and I still must learn a ton of new "stuff" every day that I continue to practice law.
It will be a mistake if you decide not to hire an attorney. Please consider finding an honest, competent, reasonably priced legal counsel, and hiring him or her to help you. I am confident that everythign will come out better for you (or your husband) if you do so.Good luck.