Things you may not know about Missouri family law courts based on my personal experience and research (not legal advice)
It seems that the court can subpoena nearly all of your psych records, based on the "best interest" standard. Think what you said in your counseling session 5 years ago was confidential? Not necessarily. It can be often said that this depends on scope, but it can also be said that this depends on the judge, and other factors too. It seems very wise to be careful what you sign and agree to. In court it may not come down to what you said in therapy, but how it can be spun against you.
It appears that once a GAL is assigned, your previous order is invalid. It doesn't matter how much you spent on your previous judgment and parenting plan. Once safety concerns are mentioned, and a GAL is assigned, it seems that the previous order does not have to be followed by the other party.
It appears that getting a GAL assigned is incredibly easy. From what I've seen/experienced, the court will gladly assign a GAL based on unfounded accusations, or safety concerns. It seems that the court views it as a better safe than sorry situation, and they likely don't mind getting one of their lawyers paid.
Parenting plans seem to be set up for future litigation. If one is not careful, they could approve a parenting plan or judgment that is set up for future litigation, if there ever needs to be another modification. If I could go back, I would watch the wording in my parenting plan closer, to understand how they would eventually use it against me later. Lawyers can be lazy and let things slip through the cracks, and future litigation just means potentially more money for them down the road, so there's not necessarily any motivation to get things right in your benefit.
It appears that everyone involved in family law cases are officers of the court. According to Google, an officer of the court is any person - including judges, attorneys, clerks, and bailiffs - with an ethical and legal obligation to uphold the law and ensure the proper, fair administration of justice. While attorneys must zealously advocate for clients, their role as officers compels them to be truthful, obey court rules, and prioritize integrity over client demands. In other words, if someone ever feels like their attorney is prioritizing the court over them, this could be why. An attorney sees their colleagues every day, and can manage up to 50 cases or more at a time. They may only handle your case once, if you don't hire them again down the road. Who do you think butters their bread?
LGBTQ does not seem to be completely protected. It appears that one's sexual orientation can become a factor in custody determination, depending on other factors in the case.
From what I've experienced and witnessed, it seems that the court has wide discretion, and can basically do anything it wants to, under the best interest standard. I have a fully legal parenting plan, and an attorney, and I haven't had contact with my own child in over 2 years.
It seems that most police will not enforce a parenting plan, because they are able to say it's a civil issue, and needs to be addressed with the court. It seems that a family access motion, and contempt motions are the only way to make parents follow parenting plans. However, it appears that some newer parenting plans are adding language which states that police have the right to enforce the plan. It may be a good idea to ask your attorney about adding this language to your plan.
Documentation seemingly means nothing, if not used properly. Many people say that documentation is the key to winning a family law case, but this may only be partially true. It seems that in order for documentation to make a difference, it has to get on the record somehow. Simply handing your attorney a folder full of files does not get them on the record, unless he/she uses them as exhibits. Emails also appear to be able to create a somewhat usable record in some situations. If your attorney strongly prefers phone/in-person communication, it could be because they know that these forms of communication are likely to be undocumented, and off the record. This seems to mean that although the conversations likely happened, they can't be used because there's no record of them happening.
If you have anything else to add about your experience in Missouri family court, please drop it in the comments.
I'm not recommending that you go pro se, but if you are left without an attorney, or want to understand more about your rights, the Mizzou law library has publicly available Westlaw terminals for research. There may be other public access terminals in the state if you call around. Westlaw appears to be like a Google for attorneys, where statutes are explained in plain english, and case law is fairly easily accessible. You might be utterly surprised to find out what's actually behind the curtain.
If you're suffering through a painful family law situation, please know you're not alone. Hopefully one day we can make changes to this system, so families can be healed much faster than they are now.