Missouri Divorce and Family Law Blog : Kansas City Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Wortman Law Firm

On August 20, 2008 the Advisory Commitee of the Supreme Court of Missouri issued a formal opinion that the practice of Collaborative law, a form of practice where clients agree from the outset to settle their case out of court through negotiation rather than litigation, is ethical and permissible in Missouri. 

In the area of family law, both parties and their attorneys formally agree that no documents will be filed with the court until the case is resolved.  Rather than taking a course of litigation, where papers are filed and served, discovery is exchanged, and the case is prepared for trial, the parties negotiate in a series of 4 way open discussions.  In these discussions, the parties agree not to go to court, or even threaten to, and all information is exchanged freely and openly to assist the attorneys in resolving the case in a cooperative manner.  In the rare event that the case is not settled, both parties must retain new trial counsel and the collaborative attorneys must withdraw.

The primary concern of the Advisory Committee was that the client understand the pros and cons of the collaborative process and sign a written consent and contract providing that the attorney has no choice but to withdraw should the case not settle.

Collaborative family law has been around for many years, and is quickly gaining momentum and popularity in Missouri as a superior way to resolve domestic relations cases

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To show transmutation of separate property to marital property requires evidence of owner’s clear intent to contribute the property.  Commingling is not enough.  Wife’s contributions to Husband’s separate property did not transmute into marital property, but did support an equalization payment to Wife in proportion to her contribution.   Court of Appeals awards Wife slightly less than Circuit Court. 

Sheilafaye Goodwin, Respondent, v. Charles Lewis Goodwin, Appellant

Missouri Law pertaining to Marital and Separate Property

Section 452.330 governs a trial court’s distribution and classification of marital and non-marital assets. That section requires that the trial court set aside to each party their non-marital property and divide the marital property equitably.  Generally, property owned by one spouse prior to the marriage will remain non-marital property and will be awarded to the owner of that property.   Moreover, "property which would otherwise be nonmarital property shall not become marital property solely because it may have become commingled with marital property." Property acquired before the marriage and which remains titled in the name of the original owner is separate property unless the record shows that the owner intended to change the status of the property from separate to marital.’ By contrast, if the owner intended to change the status of the property from separate to marital, it becomes marital." To transform the nature of the property from separate to marital, "[a] ‘clear intention’ to contribute to the community or to the other spouse must be demonstrated."      "[C]ourts must set aside a spouse’s separate property in dissolution cases, and property is deemed separate or marital based on the source of funds that financed the purchase

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