Custody

Under Missouri law, there is what’s called a “rebuttable presumption” in favor of equal parenting time. This means that the judge must assume that it is in a child’s best interest for both parents to have equal parenting time or approximately equal. However, one or both parents can present evidence to change the judge’s mind. The judge can give an order giving one parent more parenting time than the other only if: 

• The judge finds that there was a pattern of domestic violence;
• The judge decides that it would not be in the child’s best interest for the parents to have equal parenting time based on the factors listed in What factors will a judge consider when deciding custody?; or
• The parents have reached an agreement about all custody issues. They can then give their agreement to the judge and ask for it to become a court order.¹

¹ MO ST § 452.375(2)