Kansas City Family Law Blog

If you are a married Missouri woman whose salary or wage surpasses that of your husband, it may surprise you to learn that should the two of you divorce, you may have to make spousal support payments to your husband. As Wife.org explains, this reasonably new wrinkle to alimony goes by the nickname of manimony.

True, courts today grant manimony in only about 10 percent of divorce cases nationwide. Nevertheless, it represents a growing trend as women throughout the country continue to climb the corporate ladder or start and develop enormously successful businesses of their own. Surprisingly, in 40 percent of American homes today, the woman is the one who supports the family, either solely or by her substantial earnings that exceed those of her husband. Furthermore, over 2 million dads now stay home to raise the kids while their wives work to bring home the bacon.

If you are like a lot of people in Missouri, you may have long heard others talk about the divorce rate in America. Most people today know someone who has been divorced and may either have experienced a parental divorce or a divorce of their own. While not an uncommon experience, some recent research may point to a reduction in the divorce rate in America.

As reported by The Atlantic, a sociologist at the University of Maryland published findings that at first glance seemed to indicate a drop by as much as 18 percent in the rate of divorces in the United States between 2008 and 2016. However, the final data shows a drop by eight percent. This number takes into account other demographical shifts as well as the number of people who actually got married to start with.

Missouri parents who have decided to divorce have a lot of worries to handle. One of the top concerns involves parents trying to decide how they're going to break the news to their children. While the options vary depending on the child's age and temperament, there are still some general rules of thumb that can be applied to most situations.

Psychology Today puts a strong emphasis on remaining mature and keeping the child from feeling any blame for the impending divorce. It should be made clear that the divorce is not happening because of them. Rather, it's happening because the parents feel as if it's the best decision, and it's one they made entirely on their own. Additionally, studies have shown that children react better when parents present a unified front. This means parents should avoid blaming each other for the divorce or anything leading up to it.

After your divorce proceedings have been completed in Jackson County, the hope is that you and your now ex-spouse will be able to work together on those ongoing issues which require collaboration (namely, the custody of your kids). Such a task may not be easy, as evidenced by many of those that have worked with us here at the Stange Law Firm eventually seeking to have the parental rights of their former spouses terminated. The law may support your decision if you indeed feel that such a step would be the best option in your case. However, completing such an action can often be difficult. 

Per information shared by Missouri's Judicial Branch, the law allows for the termination of parental rights based on consent. For this to happen, your ex-spouse must agree to it. Even with his or her consent, however, the court must still find that taking such action is in the best interest of your children before approving it.