Favorable Family Court Result Achieved for Court-Appointed Client
Baker Sterchi obtained a favorable decision for a court-appointed client in a proceeding before the Jackson County Family Court. The client, the child’s non-offending father, sought legal recognition of his parentage and sole custody of his son.
The paternity motion was resolved through an evidentiary hearing that functioned as a brief trial. Baker Sterchi presented opening and closing arguments, elicited testimony from the father, presented evidence supporting his parentage and examined the Children’s Division caseworker. Although the mother did not oppose the motion, Missouri law still required the father to satisfy the applicable procedural and evidentiary requirements.
Following the hearing, the court announced that it would grant the requested declaration of paternity and award the father sole custody, with the mother permitted supervised visitation in the father’s presence. The father did not seek termination of the mother’s parental rights.
The paternity declaration will allow the father to obtain a new birth certificate identifying him as the child’s legal parent.
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