Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Date unavailable
Deborah S. Thornburg, Respondent, vs. James T. Thornburg, Appellant.
James T. Thornburg (Father) appealed the circuit court's judgment dissolving his marriage to Deborah S. Thornburg (Mother) and granting Mother sole legal custody of their two minor children. The appellate court affirmed the dissolution of the marriage, finding sufficient evidence that the marriage was irretrievably broken. However, the court reversed the award of sole legal custody to Mother, concluding that there was no substantial evidence to support that the parents were unable to co-parent effectively, and remanded the case for entry of a joint legal custody judgment. The court also denied Mother's motion to dismiss Father's appeal for briefing deficiencies, exercising its discretion due to the issues involving children's welfare.