Marler Law Partners

08/29/2026

If you have been putting off calling a family law attorney because you aren't sure what to say or what to bring, this one is for you.

Firstly, you do not need to have everything figured out before your first meeting. You don't need a perfectly organized timeline or a stack of documents. You just need to show up.

That first conversation is about understanding your situation, your concerns, and what you actually need. A good attorney will ask questions, listen, and help you start to make sense of what comes next.

At Marler Law Partners, our intake process is built around that. Before you ever sit down with an attorney, you meet with our therapist and our client relationship manager, who walk you through how everything works and what to expect. By the time the legal conversation starts, you already feel a little less lost.

Reaching out is the hardest part for most people. Once you do, it gets clearer.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to schedule a consultation with our team.

08/27/2026

Back to school season is right around the corner, and for co-parenting families, the transition back to routine can take a little more coordination.

One of the most practical things you can do right now is to plan for your child to return to the primary household about a week before school starts. That buffer gives everyone time to reset bedtimes, wake-up times, and daily rhythms before the first day hits. Kids who go from summer freedom straight into a school schedule without that reset tend to struggle more in those first weeks.

Beyond the schedule itself, clear communication between households matters. Shared calendars, agreed-upon drop-off and pickup logistics, and a plan for how to handle last-minute changes all reduce friction before it starts.

If your current parenting plan doesn't address the school-year schedule clearly, or if things have shifted since it was written, this is a good time to revisit it.

At Marler Law Partners, we help families make sure their parenting plans actually work for where their lives are now. If yours needs updating, we're here to help.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to get in touch with our team.

08/26/2026

A lot of people come to us having already had a legal experience that left them feeling like a number. That is not how we operate at Marler Law Partners.

From the first meeting, which is with our therapist and client relationship manager before you ever sit down with an attorney, we are paying attention to the whole picture. What you are carrying. What you need to understand. What would actually help you feel less lost in a process that can feel completely foreign.

Family law cases involve some of the most personal decisions a person will ever make. Who raises your children and how. What happens to the home you built. How your financial future gets structured. Treating those decisions like routine paperwork is something we refuse to do.

Our clients know their attorneys. They know what is happening in their case and why. They know they can call and get a real answer. That is not a bonus feature here. That is the baseline.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to learn more about how we work.

08/25/2026

There is no shortage of advice online about what to do when you are thinking about filing for divorce. Ten-step lists, checklists, timelines, things to gather, things to avoid. It can feel like a lot before you have made a single phone call.

Getting the right attorney in your corner early changes the shape of the whole process. Someone who knows Missouri family law, knows your situation, and can tell you what actually applies to your circumstances is worth more than any generic checklist.

Filing for divorce involves real decisions about your finances, your property, your children, and your future. Getting those details right from the start matters.

At Marler Law Partners, we take the time to understand your full picture before we start advising you on next steps. We are not a one-size-fits-all firm, and we would never treat something this significant like we are.

If you are considering filing for divorce in Missouri and want to understand what the process looks like for your family, we are here to talk it through.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to connect with our team.

08/24/2026

Divorce is ranked by researchers as the second most stressful life event that an adult can experience. It can be a stress that doesn't just fade when the paperwork is signed.

Divorce can trigger real trauma responses, including symptoms that look a lot like PTSD, particularly for those who experienced abuse, coercive control, or a high-conflict separation.

Hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, difficulty trusting, trouble making decisions. These are signs that something genuinely hard happened to you.

Healing takes more than time. It takes support, self-compassion, and often professional help from someone who understands how trauma actually works.

At Marler Law Partners, we built our practice around this reality. We are a trauma-informed firm, which means we understand that the people who walk through our doors are not just navigating a legal process. They are often in the middle of one of the most painful seasons of their lives. Our therapist works alongside our legal team so that clients feel supported as whole people, not just as cases.

If you are in the thick of it right now, we see you. And we are here.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to learn more about how we work.

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

We spend a lot of time in some of the hardest conversations imaginable. Good music helps. 🎶

Drop a comment and tell us which one is your jam, or share what song is getting you through your week right now.

08/20/2026

Happy belated birthday to our incredible Brenda Eckhoff! 🎉🎈

Thirty-six years in the legal field. Nearly a decade with Marler Law Partners. And a nickname that says it all: the Judge Maker.

Brenda has worked alongside so many talented attorneys over the years that three of them went on to become judges. The Honorable Patricia Riehl, the Honorable Katherine Hardy-Senkel, and the Honorable Scott Schrum all have Brenda in their corner of their story. That is not a coincidence. That is what happens when you work alongside someone who is genuinely exceptional at what she does.

Beyond the courtroom logistics, the filings, the deadlines, and the motions, what Brenda is most known for is how she shows up for clients. She takes the time to actually know the people she works with, and she walks alongside them through some of the hardest seasons of their lives.

Marler Law Partners is better because Brenda is in it. Help us celebrate her today by dropping a birthday message in the comments!

08/19/2026

If you've heard the word "mediation" but aren't sure what it actually looks like in practice, here is a straightforward breakdown:

Divorce mediation is a structured process where a neutral third party, called a mediator, helps both spouses work through the key decisions in their divorce without going to court.

The mediator doesn't make decisions for you, they facilitate the conversation, and help both sides find common ground.

In a typical session, you and your spouse will work through things like property and debt division, spousal support, parenting time, and child support. The mediator guides the discussion, keeps things on track, and helps draft an agreement once you reach consensus. That agreement can then be submitted to the court as part of your divorce.

Compared to litigation, mediation tends to be less adversarial, more private, and often faster and less expensive. It puts the decisions in your hands rather than a judge's. For couples who can communicate, even imperfectly, it's worth understanding as an option.

At Marler Law Partners, we can help you evaluate whether mediation fits your situation and make sure your interests are protected throughout the process, whatever path you choose.

Visit marlerlawpartners.com to schedule a consultation.

08/18/2026

Today we celebrate the heart behind Marler Law Partners. Happy (belated) birthday, Sara Marler! 🎉🎈

Sara graduated cm laude and Top 10% of her class from New England University Law School, and she came back to Missouri because this community is where she belongs. That sense of home and purpose shows up in everything she does.

She has spent her career being the voice for children, survivors of abuse, and people fighting to hold on to what matters most. A mentor once told her that caring makes this job hard, but caring is what makes you good at it. Sara has lived that every day since.

We are so grateful to work alongside her. Drop a birthday message in the comments and help us celebrate!