About This Episode
Cordell & Cordell Executive/Managing Partner, CEO Scott Trout and Litigation Partner Kristin Zurek recently appeared on Emmis Radio’s Today’s Issues with Kristi Carson to discuss a range of issues affecting men in the family court system, including two shared parenting bills making their way through the Missouri legislature.
Before explaining the details of the proposed legislation, Mr. Trout and Ms. Zurek both talked about their own experiences working to level the playing field for men in family court. Both noted that while men still face plenty of gender stereotypes, especially in regards to child custody issues, tremendous progress has been made over the last two decades.
“Since I’ve been practicing, for 13 years now, I’ve seen a movement toward more joint custody,” Ms. Zurek said. “You very rarely see sole custody given to Mom.
“Now, the Missouri legislature is trying to catch up. There’s a House bill and a Senate bill that are companion bills that are out there that are trying to equalize parenting time between parents to get to a week-off custody schedule, which is great for dads in Missouri.”
Mr. Trout noted the mountain of social science research conducted in the last 20 years that has proven that children fare best when given access to both parents following a divorce.
“Just picking one parent over the other because of their sex just doesn’t make sense anymore,” Mr. Trout said. “Let’s really dig down and put them both on a level playing field.
“If I had my way to redesign the law, both parents would come into court and it would be petitioner A and petitioner B and the judge would never know who is mom or dad. That’s really what we’re looking for at Cordell & Cordell.”
Click below to listen to each segment of the interview.
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