Supreme Court of Missouri / Feb 24, 2026
Alicia Smith sought third-party visitation rights for minor children A.L.P. and S.H.P. after Lora Martinez, the children's adoptive parent, was granted parental rights in a separate adoption proceeding. The circuit court granted Smith visitation, and Martinez appealed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that section 452.375.5(5)(a) does not create an independent cause of action for third-party custody or visitation when custody is not already at issue in an underlying proceeding, such as a divorce or paternity action. Consequently, Smith's claim for visitation and her subsequent family access motion failed.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Feb 10, 2026
Appellant M.D.M. (Father) appealed the circuit court's child custody and support judgment, raising six points of error concerning the Form 14 income calculation, Line 11 credit, allocation of guardian ad litem and attorney's fees, and the abatement of child support. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, noting that Father's failure to preserve issues for appeal subjected all points to plain error review. The court found no manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice in the circuit court's rulings, including its denial of a Line 11 credit due to Father's non-exercise of visitation and its fee awards.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Dec 16, 2025
Mother J.M.S. appealed the termination of her parental rights to her three children, J.M.H., K.M.H., and T.M.H., by the Jackson County Circuit Court. The trial court based its decision on findings of abuse and neglect, and parental unfitness, concluding termination was in the children's best interest. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, finding no error in the trial court's determination that Mother committed severe and recurrent physical abuse, and that termination was in the children's best interest.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 25, 2025
Danielle Callow (Mother) appealed the circuit court's judgment dissolving her marriage to Matthew Callow (Father). Mother challenged the denial of maintenance, the child support calculation, the division of marital property and uninsured medical bills, and the denial of her motion for newly discovered evidence. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment on all points, finding no abuse of discretion.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Oct 21, 2025
Paternal grandparents C.L. and N.L. appealed the circuit court's judgment granting sole physical and legal custody of their grandson K.J.L. to his mother, S.R.B.-F. The grandparents argued the circuit court misapplied the law by finding a change in circumstances based on unpled issues and by conflating change of circumstance requirements with best interest factors. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, holding that the circuit court properly determined a substantial change in circumstances occurred due to the grandparents' flagrant pattern of willful denial of the mother's visitation rights.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Oct 7, 2025
Mother, Sandy Goodpasture, appealed the trial court's judgment of modification concerning child custody and support. She raised eight points on appeal, challenging the striking of her pleadings, the handling of domestic violence allegations, child support calculations, interpreter competency, religious beliefs, and the guardian ad litem. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, denying several of Mother's points due to significant briefing deficiencies and finding no error in the trial court's application of law regarding the striking of pleadings and child support imputation.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Sep 26, 2025
Father appealed the juvenile court's judgments of adjudication and disposition that placed his children under the care and control of the juvenile court and Children's Division. The juvenile court found the children in need of care and treatment based on Father's criminal history, but rejected allegations of domestic violence. The appellate court vacated the judgments, holding that the juvenile officer failed to present substantial evidence linking Father's past criminal history to a likelihood of future harm to the children, and that the juvenile court improperly relied on evidence against the Mother to the detriment of the Father.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Jul 29, 2025
Father D.Z. appealed the judgment terminating his parental rights to his son, D.J.Z., based on grounds of abuse and neglect, including a mental condition, severe physical abuse, and failure to protect the child. Father challenged the denial of his motion to reopen evidence, alleged failure to provide a social study, the findings of abuse and neglect, and the determination that termination was in the child's best interest. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no error in its rulings on any of Father's seven points on appeal.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Jul 15, 2025
Grandparents Jerry and Elizabeth Steele sought visitation rights with their granddaughter after the child's mother died and the child was adopted by the father's new wife. The trial court denied Father's motions to dismiss, and the parties subsequently entered into a consent judgment awarding Grandparents monthly visitation. Father appealed the consent judgment, arguing the Grandparents lacked standing. The appellate court dismissed the appeal, holding that a party who consents to a judgment is not "aggrieved" under section 512.020, RSMo, and therefore lacks statutory authority to appeal.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jul 8, 2025
K.A.E. (Mother) appealed the trial court's judgment of paternity, custody, and child support, which adopted E.W.S.'s (Father's) parenting plan designating Father's home as the child's primary residence for educational purposes. Mother argued the judgment was against the weight of the evidence and lacked substantial evidence for certain best-interest factors, particularly after her recent relocation. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision, deferring to its custody determination and finding that the judgment was supported by substantial evidence and not an abuse of discretion.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jul 1, 2025
Larry and Stacie Kinman (Grandparents) appealed the circuit court's judgment that set aside a default judgment against Christopher Donahoo (Father), sustained Father's motion for a change of judge, and dismissed the underlying petition for child custody. Grandparents argued that Father's motion for a change of judge was untimely because a motion to set aside a default judgment is not an independent action. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, holding that a motion to set aside a default judgment is indeed an independent action, making the motion for a change of judge timely. The court also found Grandparents abandoned their second point on appeal by failing to cite supporting authority.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jun 24, 2025
Father appealed the trial court's judgment ordering him to pay $1,583.00 in monthly child support. The trial court had rejected its own Form 14 calculations, which were based on evidence presented at trial, and instead relied on a four-year-old pendente lite order. The appellate court found this to be a misapplication of law, reversed the child support award, and, pursuant to Rule 84.14, entered judgment for child support in the amount of $472.00 per month, consistent with the trial court's post-trial Form 14.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jun 17, 2025
Mother and Father appealed the termination of their parental rights to Child, S.R.W. The trial court found grounds for termination based on failure to rectify conditions and parental unfitness, and that termination was in the Child's best interest. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding sufficient evidence to support the termination of both parents' rights and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Father's motion to reopen evidence or in its best interest determination.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Jun 17, 2025
Attorney Rose Briscoe appealed sanctions imposed by the circuit court in a dissolution of marriage case, stemming from her use of audio recordings made by the parties' son during sessions with the guardian ad litem (GAL) and a court-appointed therapist. The circuit court had found that Briscoe violated attorney-client privilege, work product protection, and therapist-patient privilege. The appellate court reversed the sanctions, holding that none of these privileges or protections applied to the communications at issue. The case was remanded for the circuit court to reconsider whether sanctions were warranted on other grounds, independent of privilege claims.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / May 27, 2025
Mother appealed the trial court's judgment terminating her parental rights to Child. The appellate court dismissed the appeal due to Mother's failure to comply with mandatory appellate court requirements. Specifically, Mother failed to provide a transcript of the termination hearing and her brief was deficient in its points relied on, statement of facts, and argument section, violating Rules 81.12 and 84.04.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Apr 22, 2025
Alicia Smith sought third-party visitation rights with two children adopted by Lora Martinez, based on a settlement agreement. Martinez appealed the circuit court's judgment, arguing Smith lacked standing under § 452.375.5(5) and that she had not consented to the entry of judgment. The appellate court affirmed both the judgment awarding visitation and the judgment granting Smith's family access motion. The court held that Smith had standing because adoption proceedings do not determine child custody, and Martinez's agreement to the visitation schedule at the time of submission was binding despite later objections.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Apr 3, 2025
Father appealed the circuit court's judgment granting the guardians' petition to adopt Child, arguing his trial counsel was ineffective. Father contended counsel failed to object to a due process violation in an underlying juvenile proceeding and failed to properly prepare for the adoption hearing. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the due process claim lacked record support and was unmeritorious, and that counsel's performance, while imperfect, did not amount to being "effectively absent" or deny Father a meaningful hearing.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Mar 27, 2025
Mother appealed the trial court's denial of her motion to modify a dissolution judgment, in which she sought joint legal and sole physical custody of the minor child. Mother argued the trial court's analysis of statutory factors under §452.375.2 was flawed because it considered "touching incidents" at the child's school outside of the enumerated factors. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, holding that the trial court properly considered all relevant factors, and there is no prescribed format for how those factors must be presented in the judgment.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Mar 20, 2025
Father S.J.K. appealed from a judgment terminating his parental rights to Child K.G.K. and from a judgment denying his Rule 74.06(b) motion for relief from the termination judgment. He raised seven claims of error, including procedural issues, challenges to findings of grounds for termination, and the best interest finding. The Southern District of Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed both judgments, finding no error in the trial court's decisions regarding the social study, the denial of a continuance, parental unfitness, or the best interest of the child.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Mar 4, 2025
Drew B. Carter (Husband) appealed the dissolution of marriage judgment, challenging the calculation of spousal maintenance, imputation of his income for child support, the order to pay private school tuition, and the characterization of a trust account as marital property. The appellate court reversed the trial court's calculation of Wife's net income for maintenance, agreeing that it was incorrectly reduced by itemized deductions and a child tax credit. However, the court affirmed the trial court's decisions regarding Husband's imputed income, the private school tuition order, and the classification of the trust account as marital property. The case was remanded for recalculation of maintenance and child support consistent with the corrected income.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Feb 25, 2025
C.M.G. appealed the dismissal of his petition seeking a declaration of non-paternity and to set aside his acknowledgment of paternity and a resulting child support judgment. He alleged a material mistake of fact, claiming he knew the mother was pregnant by another man before they dated or had sexual intercourse, but signed the paternity affidavit anyway. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's dismissal, holding that C.M.G.'s own allegations negated any claim of a material mistake of fact, as he had full knowledge of the circumstances when he acknowledged paternity.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Feb 24, 2025
Appellant Holly Jessica Flood (Wife) appealed the trial court's judgment dissolving her marriage to Respondent Brian Flood (Husband), raising four points on appeal concerning marital property, debt, child support, and child custody. The appellate court dismissed Wife's appeal, finding that each of her points relied on violated Rule 84.04(d) by combining multiple allegations of error and failing to explain why the legal reasons supported the challenge in the context of the case. Consequently, the court held that Wife's points preserved nothing for appellate review.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Jan 8, 2025
Frank Chan (Father) appealed the circuit court's judgment modifying a parenting plan, arguing that the court erred by not awarding him exactly equal parenting time with his two minor children, despite a statutory presumption for equal or approximately equal parenting time. Father also contended the court failed to give proper weight to his testimony as a doctor regarding the children's medical treatment. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, holding that the statute does not mandate exactly equal parenting time and that the circuit court's findings, supported by substantial evidence, were based on the children's best interests and proper weighing of evidence.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 24, 2024
Aylicia Mickow (Wife) appealed the trial court's judgment dissolving her marriage to Cody Mickow (Husband), challenging the joint legal and physical custody order for their two minor children and the valuation of two marital properties. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, concluding that the trial court adequately addressed all relevant best-interest-of-the-child factors and that the custody order was not against the weight of the evidence. Additionally, the court found the property valuations were supported by the record and within the trial court's discretion.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 10, 2024
Maternal Grandmother and Step-Grandfather appealed a circuit court judgment that appointed Maternal Grandmother as sole guardian and conservator for a minor child, excluded Maternal Step-Grandfather as co-guardian, and awarded visitation to Paternal Grandmother. The appellate court reversed the visitation award, finding Paternal Grandmother lacked standing under § 452.402, RSMo. It affirmed Maternal Grandmother's sole guardianship but remanded the case for the circuit court to reconsider Maternal Step-Grandfather's petition for co-guardianship, instructing the court to apply only the factors enumerated in § 475.045.3, RSMo.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 26, 2024
Timothy Wells (Father) appealed the circuit court's denial of his petition for review of an order from the Department of Social Services Family Support Division (FSD) that denied his request for administrative modification of child support. While the administrative review was pending, Father filed a judicial motion to modify his support obligations, which resulted in a judgment retroactively modifying child support. The appellate court dismissed Father's appeal as moot, concluding that the subsequent judicial modification superseded the administrative proceeding and rendered the FSD order without practical effect.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 19, 2024
Mother E.R.G. appealed the circuit court's judgment terminating her parental rights to her two children, A.D.G. and B-J.J. She argued there was insufficient evidence for both the grounds for termination and the finding that termination was in the children's best interests. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, finding substantial evidence supported both the termination grounds, specifically failure to rectify due to untreatable chemical dependency, and the best interests determination.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Nov 19, 2024
Ron Irving (Father) filed a paternity action against Jenny Angstrom (Mother) seeking to be declared the father of their minor child, I.D.A.A., and for custody, visitation, and child support. The circuit court found Father to be the natural father, awarded joint physical and legal custody, designated Father's address for mailing and educational purposes, awarded Mother child support, and ordered the child's surname changed to Father's. Mother appealed, challenging the joint legal custody, name change, address designation, and child support calculation. The appellate court reversed the award of joint legal custody and remanded for further proceedings on that issue, but affirmed the remainder of the circuit court's judgment.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Nov 12, 2024
K.B. (Father) initiated a paternity action against C.G. (Mother) concerning their child, H.G.B., seeking to be declared the natural father and requesting orders for child support and custody. The circuit court adopted the parties' agreed parenting plan and ordered the child's surname to be changed to a hyphenated name including both parents' surnames. Mother appealed, arguing the name change constituted an abuse of discretion. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, finding no abuse of discretion in ordering the hyphenated surname.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Oct 24, 2024
C.R.A.W., the father of Z.L.R.C., appealed the circuit court's judgment terminating his parental rights. The child had been in foster care for a significant portion of his life, and the father was incarcerated for felony convictions, unable to participate in reunification services or support the child. The appellate court affirmed the termination, rejecting the father's arguments that the parental unfitness statute was unconstitutionally vague as applied to incarcerated parents and that the burden of proof was unlawfully shifted. The court also found no abuse of discretion in the determination that termination was in the child's best interest.