This is a family law post divorce matter, Also noted the…

Okay so here's what he can do.

First, the joint decision making -- she is making the decisions of cosmetic without consultation. That's not allowed, that's a violation.

Two, the unilateral decision not to send the child with her father is unacceptable. I represent children like a GAL, and that is totally unacceptable. She can't do that.

People need to get over stuff....like the ex...

I'm sorry this is happening.

In MO, he should get a lawyer, even a legal services or legal aid one although a private lawyer would be better, and

he has to file a family access motion, which is a process to enforce an existing order for “access” (visitation/parenting time) with a child that has a specific schedule of time with the child.

Include in the motion the violation for the orthodontic work that was not agreed to and that he shouldn't have to pay.

So yes, this can be taken care of -- it's like a motion to enforce. If she does it again, he can file a motion for civil contempt but at this time he needs to file a family access motion.

A Motion for Family Access Order (FA10) must be filed in the court that has continuing jurisdiction over custody and access of the child. This is usually the court that entered the order the motion is addressing.

The Motion for Family Access Order form is available for download from the motion for family access (visitation) forms page or at the court clerk’s office where you can get more information about the filing procedures if necessary. A filing fee is charged for filing the motion. If you cannot afford the court filing fee, you may file an application asking that the fees be waived.

You can try to get a contempt order but the judges issue contempt very sparingly. If he's going to do a contempt motion, he needs a lawyer as that is a quasi-criminal proceeding even though it's civil.

I can help find lawyers if you need, as allowed in part by this site, see below.

Please let me know if you need any more information, such as where to find an attorney in your area -- I can help you with that, and while we aren’t allowed to refer to a particular attorney, I will send you in the right direction, either to private lawyers or to Legal Aid or pro bono lawyers, and also send you a copy of my 3-1/2 page guide – AFTER I’m rated – which shows how to pick a good attorney. It is thorough, and it has helped many people here find good lawyers.

You can ask me a follow-up question once I’m rated or anything else related to this question. I’d rather be given a chance to answer the question to your satisfaction than be rated negatively, as I have an almost 100% approval rating.

Please accept my answer, rate my answer as one of the top three faces/stars (at the very top of this chat, and I always STRIVE for FIVE, (AND WHILE you don’t have to give me a bonus, anything is welcome) and then submit, as this is how I get credit for my time with you and with your question. I work hard to give you a thorough and honest answer. I thank you in advance for rating me. Please let me know if there is more that I can do to answer your question and if you need more information. If not, I thank you for your rating. I can’t get credit for answering your question without your fair and honest rating.

We’re not employees of Just Answer but are independent contractors, so your rating is very important to us so we can be reimbursed for our work.

You’re also welcome to come back to this room free of charge to ask me a follow-up to this question any time. If you want to ask for me specifically, please ask – IN THE QUESTION -- “FOR NYFamilyAttorney ONLY" and you'll probably get me. If someone else picks up the question, you can let them answer it, or you can say you want to wait for me -- it's your choice. Be well and thank you for letting me help you today. We ask members and non-members to please rate us for our time and our knowledge. Thank you in advance for rating me! We are FREELANCE attorneys and depend on ratings to be compensated. Thank you for understanding.

Thanks, that's why I state at the top that I"m very thorough. ;>

Sure, private or legal aid attorneys? I don't know if these legal services take someone out of state though.

I am here so if you want to post another question, go ahead but it would have to be a separate post, I'm sure you understand.

Thanks so much and thank you for rating me! Please just let me know whether private or legal aid attys, and the county.

Sure, county?

It's better for me to have the county so I can find more attorneys for you.

Also, this takes me a few minutes to send this, so I'd appreciate a rating now while I look for the info. Thank you!

Hannibal Missouri family lawyer: there are only 13 here, not much to choose from.

I would need a MUCH bigger area, or a really big city.

https://www.avvo.com/search/lawyer_search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=family+&loc=+hannibal%2C+mo

I'd appreciate it if you could rate me while I still look around. Thank you.

Okay thank you. I'll help you with that.

Thank you very much for your kind words. When you want to ask for me, make sure to ask for me IN THE QUESTION LIKE THIS:

FOR NY FAMILY ATTORNEY ONLY.

I'm happy to help.

I'll look in St. Louis.

Please post another question if you want to ask me, and post it as I have outlined above. I'll be back here tonight, signing off right away.

Family law, St. Louis: 244 lawyers for divorce law

https://www.avvo.com/search/lawyer_search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=divorce&loc=st.+louis%2C+mo

Read this first before you pick out lawyers!

Here is my guide so please follow it as much as possible AND please read this first before looking for lawyers! This guide IS MEANT MOSTLY for assistance with Avvo.com, but even if you’re using Legal Aid or a pro bono attorney, it can still help you. If you are using Legal Aid and you see a reference to scores in this guide, that doesn’t apply to Legal Aid, but you do want to know how the Legal Aid and how individual attorneys are rated. Check Google and Yelp to see how they’re rated, and go on Avvo.com to see how the individual attorney is rated. Please check avvo.com to see what it says about the attorney you want. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE AND THIS IS A DISCLAIMER THAT I CANNOT AND DO NOT VOUCH FOR ANY ATTORNEY AND DO NOT KNOW IF THEY ARE GOOD OR NOT. THAT IS FOR YOU TO DECIDE.

How to choose an attorney. THIS IS HOW I WOULD PICK AN ATTORNEY IF I NEEDED ONE FOR MYSELF IN ANOTHER FIELD OF LAW. You can make this into a word doc by copying and pasting:

Here's what to look for and what to avoid. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Avoid: Any red mark next to an attorney's name on avvo.com, such as misconduct. That usually means the lawyer was either disbarred, censured, cited for misconduct, or suspended from the practice of law.

Ignore: Ratings, such as 6.5 or 10, which is the highest. A 6.5 attorney may be even better than a 10. It's difficult to say. The site, avvo.com, has its own formula for rating attorneys and many attorneys get a 10 because they belong to bar associations and sometimes give lectures. That does not necessarily mean they're the best when it comes to going to court.

Don’t believe that high-priced lawyers are better. This profession is not usually “you get what you pay for.” Case in point. I used to charge a lot less than this attorney in White Plains, NY. Their overhead is very high; mine was not as I worked from home. Yet, people went with her (not versus me, we were not in competition with each other) because she charged a lot. PS – I often beat her in court. Price has nothing to do with competency! If you remember one thing, remember this one!

What to look for: See what the clients’ reviews state in the field that you're interested in (i.e. wills, custody, family, education, landlord-tenant, etc.). That is probably going to be the most important thing. Many people have not been reviewed by their clients, but if there are a bunch of them who are, go with the ones who have multiple reviews and that have outstanding ratings. Make sure the lawyer has really good ratings from clients in the field that you need -- for example, if you want a good elder lawyer, the lawyer should have excellent or good ratings as an elder lawyer. It will not help you if this lawyer has excellent ratings as a criminal lawyer but you want to hire her/him as an elder lawyer. You want to see excellent reviews as an elder lawyer, and it doesn't matter what the reviews say about other fields of law that don't have anything to do with your case.

What to look for, part II:. As indicated above, if you need a family lawyer, you don't want someone who is a family lawyer but who has been rated as an excellent criminal lawyer. That won't help you. You want them rated as an excellent family lawyer if that's what you're looking for.

How long they’re practicing law: I would also suggest you find someone who has been practicing at least 10 years, the more the better (15-20 is even better). The site—avvo.com -- will tell you how long they're practicing law. You don't want someone just a few years out of law school to take on your tough case.

And: **If there are hundreds of lawyers on the link I’m sending to you, you don’t have to review all of them. Just look at the first few “pages” and that will be enough. Don’t make yourself crazy by looking at all of the lawyers there.

Also: There are domestic violence shelters and places in the cities. Contact them if this is your type of situation. Some of these DV places have lawyers who can help you with your case.

Ask: If they’ve done your type of case before. The lawyer should not be defensive about this question. If the lawyer is, then you might want to move on to someone else. You can generally tell if they’re being truthful or not. If they’re searching for an answer, you should probably find someone else. If you ask them to their face, you'll see their eyes as they're answering you; it can tell a lot about their honesty or lack of it.

Ask: Find out whether they’ve represented both men and women or have stuck primarily to representing one gender. Also learn about their billing and fees and how they prefer to communicate with clients. Be sure to ask the attorney if they have any honors or certifications. Ask also how quickly they return phone calls! Don’t let them tell you the represented Frank Sinatra or someone famous. Who cares? What will they do for you?

Ask your attorney why he or she chose family law (or whatever type of law they practice) – Motivation can tell you a lot about ability. Ask the attorney what it was about family law that made them choose family law. If you like what you hear, you’ve may have found the right attorney, but make sure they’re aggressive, because that’s what you need most in many cases.

Ask if they know the judges. That never hurts.

Ask – If they take a payment plan or pay-out arrangement. Don’t be afraid to ask if you need it.

Ask for a free consultation: See if you can get one. You need to call the offices, and ASK for a free consultation over the phone. You can even ask the receptionist, and if you don’t get a “yes” answer, ask to speak with the attorney. If you don't feel confident in the lawyer, find another one. That's why it's good to make a list of the ones you want, maybe 4-6 lawyers and you'll find one. It’s okay to walk out of a lawyer’s office and don’t sign anything if you’re not comfortable with the lawyer. You usually want an aggressive lawyer to help you and someone who will return phone calls. You can always fire a lawyer if you're not happy but once the case is underway, you may need court permission to do so, so make sure you like the lawyer! Don’t feel pressured to sign anything. If someone pressures you, you can walk out or tell them you have to think about it and you’ll call them back tomorrow.

If you have to make phone calls from out-of-state or out of the country: You can do the research on the lawyers because you may have to hire them without meeting them. For example, some lawyers are listed on Yelp.com. I’m also directing you to Avvo.com, where their clients rate them. Go with what the clients’ ratings say, as listed above. Make sure the ratings are in the subject area (i.e. elder law, family law, landlord-tenant, wills and estates, adoptions, etc.) that you want to hire the lawyer for! Make sure you like the lawyer over the phone, otherwise tell them you have to think about it. You don’t have to hire them on the spot. Don’t listen to lawyers who promise you everything. They can’t do that. Just make sure you can tell that the lawyer will be a shark in the courtroom. I don’t care how NICE the lawyer is. You’re not looking for nice, you’re not looking for a friend. You’re looking for a professional and a good, aggressive one.

Bring: Your papers with you when you meet and interview the lawyers. Let the lawyer see the name of the case, the title or caption of the case and the index or docket number, and petition or complaint, or if you’re the defendant or respondent, the answer to the petition or complaint. Ask the lawyer what else you should bring to your meeting. You may need to bring your checkbook but don’t feel obligated to sign a check. You may want to think it over. Sleep on it if you need to. Don’t feel pressured, otherwise find someone else. If you can take someone with you to interview the lawyer, that would be a good idea. It’s always good to have another opinion.

Extra suggestion: If you’re looking for a family lawyer (or any other type of lawyer), the site I am sending you to shows what percentage of the lawyer’s business is family law (or the other type of law you are looking for). If you want a family lawyer, you should find someone who does mostly family law cases – at least 50% -- or exclusively family law cases (100%). I am an appellate attorney who does family law cases, and I do appeals exclusively now. I list myself as doing appeals for 85% of my practice, and I show that the appeals are for family law, custody and child abuse. Someone looking for a family law appellate attorney would know that that’s what I do. So consider the percentage of work they do in the area of law that you want. If it’s 20% or something similar, and they do several types of law, you should find another lawyer. Find someone who spends most of his or her time doing the type of law you want to hire them for.

You can run your picks by me and I'll let you know if you're on the right track.

You can print this guide out by making it into a word document by copying and pasting, and then print.

Best of luck and be well, and thank you for rating me!

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If you’re a landlord: In your case, make sure you get an L&T attorney who represents mostly landlords. I used to do L&T work and all we represented were landlords. Ask them over the phone who they represent -- landlords or tenants. If they say both, ask what percentage of their work is representing landlords. If you’re a tenant, the opposite applies – you want someone who primarily represents tenants, so ask them what percentage of their practice is for representing tenants.