Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.1202 — MO Code / Chapter 452 / Section 452.1202
452.1202 Definitions.
Status: in_force

452.1202. Definitions. — In sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 :

(1) "Adult" means an individual who has attained eighteen years of age or an emancipated minor;

(2) "Caretaking authority" means the right to live with and care for a child on a day-to-day basis. The term includes physical custody, parenting time, right to access, and visitation;

(3) "Child" means:

(a) An unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen years of age; or

(b) An adult son or daughter by birth or adoption, or under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 , who is the subject of a court order concerning custodial responsibility;

(4) "Court" means a tribunal authorized under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 to make, enforce, or modify a decision regarding custodial responsibility;

(5) "Custodial responsibility" includes all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. The term includes physical custody, legal custody, parenting time, right to access, visitation, and authority to grant limited contact with a child;

(6) "Decision-making authority" means the power to make important decisions regarding a child, including decisions regarding the child's education, religious training, health care, extracurricular activities, and travel. The term does not include the power to make decisions that necessarily accompany a grant of caretaking authority;

(7) "Deploying parent" means a service member, who is deployed or has been notified of impending deployment and is:

(a) A parent of a child under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 ; or

(b) An individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 ;

(8) "Deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a service member for more than ninety days but less than eighteen months pursuant to uniformed service orders that:

(a) Are designated as unaccompanied;

(b) Do not authorize dependent travel; or

(c) Otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to the location to which the service member is deployed;

(9) "Family member" means a sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, stepparent, or grandparent of a child or an individual recognized to be in a familial relationship with a child under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 ;

(10) "Limited contact" means the authority of a nonparent to visit a child for a limited time. The term includes authority to take the child to a place other than the residence of the child;

(11) "Nonparent" means an individual other than a deploying parent or other parent;

(12) "Other parent" means an individual who, in common with a deploying parent, is:

(a) A parent of a child under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 ; or

(b) An individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than sections 452.1200 to 452.1258 ;

(13) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;

(14) "Return from deployment" means the conclusion of a service member's deployment as specified in uniformed service orders;

(15) "Service member" means a member of a uniformed service;

(16) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

(a) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(b) To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process;

(17) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States;

(18) "Uniformed service" means:

(a) Active and reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States;

(b) The United States Merchant Marine;

(c) The commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service;

(d) The commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States; or

(e) The National Guard of a state.

(L. 2024 S.B. 912)