Top Family Lawyer in Springfield, MO
At the Piatchek Law Firm, our family attorneys can assist you with your most important legal matter – your family. This includes divorce, divorce, whether contested or uncontested, as well as child custody, child support, or modifications to prior support rulings. We also provide help with adoption, guardianship, prenuptial agreements, and name changes, as well as many other family law matters.
How Do I Choose a Family Lawyer?
We believe a good family law firm is one that’s highly experienced, yet down to earth. A great lawyer is easy to work with, and a great law firm gives top-notch service while remaining affordable.
We believe your family law firm should answer your questions clearly, openly, and honestly, and provide you guidance in your time of need.
Most of all, your lawyer should care about you. Whether your case involves divorce, your child’s well-being, or a fair division of property, the Piatchek firm’s caring and support means the world to our clients.
What Are the Basics of Choosing a Family Lawyer?
Ask people you trust for recommendations, or check out online reviews. Then, make your own decision. The most important part of the decision should be the initial consultation. You can’t know you’re comfortable with a law firm until you interact and discuss your case. Does the firm seem to have time and genuine concern for you? It is indeed possible to hire an experienced family attorney, who is also a lawyer you like.
Do I Need a Family Lawyer ?
Our experienced family lawyer helpfully guides you through the filings, and helps educate you on the key issues that will need to be decided. We also take our time to explore and explain all of the alternatives available. If the situation calls for it, we’ll negotiate on your behalf; when litigation is necessary, we’ll advocate for you in court; and we will do our very best to help you know the difference. A good attorney should also be cost-effective, and respect the client’s need to conserve money. No two clients are exactly alike, and we will help you keep in perspective and prioritize the often competing interests of time, money, stress, and achieving the outcome you desire.
Areas of Family Law
We can help you take care of your family law matter in any of these areas:
- Contested Divorce
- Cooperative, Uncontested Divorce
- Contested Modifications
- Uncontested Modifications
- Child Custody and Support
- Spousal Support
- Mediation
- Prenuptial Agreements
- Property Division
- Adoption
- Stepparent Adoptions
- Prenuptial Agreements
- Guardianships of Minors
Divorce
A Missouri resident may request the dissolution of marriage, the division of assets, and child support and custody provisions by filing a notarized Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the county. No-fault divorce is the rule in Missouri, so the petitioner need not prove misconduct on the part of the other spouse. If one party asserts that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and cannot be saved, the court will generally grant the petition and dissolve the marriage. The bigger challenge is to receive a fair outcome when money, real estate, and time with children is divided up.
Child Custody
When Missouri parents divorce, the law rightly puts the child’s best interests first. Optimally, both parents will keep up a close relationship with their child or children. Legal custody can be joint, with the parents sharing all key parenting decisions. Physical custody can also be joint, so that the time a child spends with each parent is roughly even. Alternatively, either legal custody or physical custody can be sole. Sole legal or physical custody means one parent takes these responsibilities, though the court may give the non-custodial parent visitation rights. An attorney helps create a proposal for sharing responsibility, including the sharing of time with the child.
Adoption
Adoption takes time and patience, but no reward is more precious than bringing a new addition into your home, your family, your life. We are here to support you when you are ready to welcome a child in need into your loving home. Our firm provides excellent representation, advocacy, and legal counsel throughout the process, from the application stage to the integration of your newest member of the family.
Name Change
Claiming your identity should be easy, and we do our best to make it so. Our experts can help you through the entire process, helping you put the paperwork together for the Circuit Court in the county. We’ll support you through your court appearance, which is often simple, especially if no one is contesting your name change, and you are not seeking to avoid creditors, or have other legally inappropriate goals in mind. After your name is changed, if you need additional assistance updating key legal documents, such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, business, or other documents, we are available to help.
Prenuptial Agreements
A prenuptial agreement, or prenup, must be correctly drafted and follow Missouri’s disclosure provisions. Our firm will advise you on protecting your assets under the agreement, by steering clear of common mistakes involving the co-mingling of accounts or money used in purchases during your marriage. We can also help either defend a prenup or challenge a prenup, and help you get the fairest possible outcome.
Guardianship of Minors
Guardianships in Missouri are complicated and can involve competing interests, elaborate background checks, and tensions over terminated parental rights, and may involve strict rules for reporting assets. Detailed guardianship plans must be drafted with care. The Piatchek Law Firm is ready to guide you through the process, and will diligently support your interests as you champion the well-being of a young person who needs you.
Cooperative Family Law
If you and your spouse are in total, 100% agreement on all aspects of your case, including property, finances, children, and custody, we can likely handle your cooperative, uncontested divorce case at a reasonable, flat fee as part of our Affordable Legal Services program.
Many people hope that they will have a cooperative case or believe it may be uncontested, but it does not always turn out that way. Perhaps they really want the other side to cooperate, perhaps they truly believe the other side will cooperate, or perhaps they don’t know where the other person stands at all. If you think you may have an uncontested or cooperative divorce case, please see our page entitled “Cooperative Uncontested Divorce” for more information and details on how these types of cases work.
Our cooperative family law services don’t apply to every situation, and we don’t take every case on this track. Clients who can take advantage of the cooperative family law track typically have cases that are civil and agreeable, and both parties want to save time and money. They don’t want to spend years and several thousand dollars each hiring an attorney to fight about it by the hour. They simply want an attorney to prepare all of the documents as agreed upon by both parties and make the process go as quickly, affordably, and smoothly as possible. In addition, they want this to be completed at one, simple flat rate, rather than by the hour. These are the kinds of cases where we can be of great assistance and provide great value.
Contested Family Law
We encourage many of our family law clients to work through their issues cooperatively with the other party when possible. Of course, this is not always possible, and uncontested divorces are not for everyone. This is why we also handle contested cases. Sometimes you have to fight for what is important to you in life. We can help you fight. The vast majority of family law cases are contested, and that is no different at our firm. We are committed to seeing that our clients’ issues are resolved to the very best of our ability with minimal delays and reasonable costs. Whenever your life is at a crossroads, or there is a major change in your family situation, we can help you clarify and pursue your rights.
We Can Help You With Your Divorce or Family Law Matter
Our attorneys will sit down with you to discuss the process of a divorce in Missouri and the time frame of a dissolution of marriage. If you are facing a family law scenario, whether divorce, modification, or another matter entirely, please contact us at 417-882-5858 to schedule a complimentary consultation so that we can discuss your family law issues.
