Missouri legislators are considering two proposals encouraging shared parenting when parents divorce or separate: Senate Bill 645 and House Bill 1667.
The House bill unanimously passed out of the House Judiciary Committee last week, and after three years of educating legislators about the benefits of shared parenting, including passage of a new state law in 2016, we feel this is the year that a “rebuttable presumption” of equal parenting time can actually be passed into law.
Essentially, the proposal translates into starting the family court conversation at shared parenting, versus the sole custody status quo. The bottom line: Research overwhelmingly points to shared parenting as the best scenario for children, their families and society after divorce or separation, and this proposal seeks to align our laws with scientific evidence.