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Before you start completing your uncontested divorce forms with us, please read all the requirements
for Missouri divorce. Make sure that your situation matches all the requirements.
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 Grounds for divorce
Residency requirements
Where to file
Disposition of property; assignment of debts
Separation agreement
Child support
Spousal support
Name restoration
Marriage can be dissolved if the court finds that there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved and that therefore the marriage is irretrievably broken.
If both of the parties by petition or otherwise have stated under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one of the parties has so stated and the other has not denied it, the court, after considering the aforesaid petition or statement, and after a hearing thereon shall make a finding whether or not the marriage is irretrievably broken and shall enter an order of dissolution or dismissal accordingly.
If one of the parties has denied under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court shall consider all relevant factors, including the circumstances that gave rise to the filing of the petition and the prospect of reconciliation, and after hearing the evidence shall
- Make a finding whether or not the marriage is irretrievably broken, and in order for the court to find that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the petitioner shall satisfy the court of one or more of the following facts:
- That the respondent has committed adultery and the petitioner finds it intolerable to live with the respondent;
- That the respondent has behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent;
- That the respondent has abandoned the petitioner for a continuous period of at least six months preceding the presentation of the petition;
- That the parties to the marriage have lived separate and apart by mutual consent for a continuous period of twelve months immediately preceding the filing of the petition;
- That the parties to the marriage have lived separate and apart for a continuous period of at least twenty-four months preceding the filing of the petition, or
- Continue the matter for further hearing not less than thirty days or more than six months later, or as soon thereafter as the matter may be reached on the court's calendar, and may suggest to the parties that they seek counseling. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 452.320)
What is the difference between fault divorce and no-fault divorce?
In order for the circuit court to accept your petition for divorce the court has to have jurisdiction over your case. Thus, the petitioner has to establish his/her residence in the state of Missouri.
The court will accept the case if at least one of the parties has been a resident of this state, or is a member of the armed services who has been stationed in this state, for ninety days (90) immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding and that thirty days have elapsed since the filing of the petition. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 452, 305.1)
A Petition for dissolution of marriage has to be filed to the Circuit Court of the county. The filing spouse is the petitioner. When the spouses file jointly to end a marriage, they are called Co-Petitioners.
In a proceeding for dissolution of the marriage or legal separation, or in a proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of the marriage…the court shall set apart to each spouse such spouse's non-marital property and shall divide the marital property and marital debts in such proportions as the court deems just after considering all relevant factors including:
- The economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse having custody of any children;
- The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
- The value of the nonmarital property set apart to each spouse;
- The conduct of the parties during the marriage; and
- Custodial arrangements for minor children. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 452.330)
Requirements as to residency are the same as for divorce: to be a resident of MI for 90 days before filing for separation. Legal separations are permitted when an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage happens as a result of 1) adultery, 2) abandonment, 3) separations caused by misconduct in the year before filing the petition, 4) spousal behavior that the other spouse cannot reasonably be expected to live with, 5) living separate and apart for two years.
In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or child support, the court may order either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child of the marriage to pay an amount reasonable or necessary for the support of the child, including an award retroactive to the date of filing the petition, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering all relevant factors including:
- The financial needs and resources of the child;
- The financial resources and needs of the parents;
- The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved;
- The physical and emotional condition of the child, and the child's educational needs;
- The child's physical and legal custody arrangements, including the amount of time the child spends with each parent and the reasonable expenses associated with the custody or visitation arrangements; and
- The reasonable work-related child care expenses of each parent.
The obligation of a parent to make child support payments shall terminate when the child:
- Dies;
- Marries;
- Enters active duty in the military;
- Becomes self-supporting, provided that the custodial parent has relinquished the child from parental control by express or implied consent;
- Reaches age eighteen, unless the provisions of subsection 4 or 5 of this section apply; or
- Reaches age twenty-one, unless the provisions of the child support order specifically extend the parental support order past the child's twenty-first birthday for reasons provided by subsection 4 of this section.
If the child is physically or mentally incapacitated from supporting himself and insolvent and unmarried, the court may extend the parental support obligation past the child's eighteenth birthday. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 452.340)
In a proceeding for…dissolution of marriage or legal separation, or a proceeding for maintenance following dissolution of the marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse, the court may grant a maintenance order to either spouse, but only if it finds that the spouse seeking maintenance:
- Lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to him, to provide for his reasonable needs; and
- Is unable to support himself through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home.
The maintenance order shall be in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just, and after considering all relevant factors…
The maintenance order shall state if it is modifiable or non-modifiable. The court may order maintenance which includes a termination date. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 452.335)
Either spouse may petition the court for a name change.
A legal notice of this name change must be published in the local newspaper in the county in which the spouse resides. (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 527.270 and 527.290)
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To better understand the health care and pecuniary related issues our legal articles and other law related information may be of interest to you.
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Fees waived for vital records for flood victims
Lincoln County Journal
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced today that fees will be waived for replacement of Missouri birth, death, marriage and divorce records for persons whose documents were lost or destroyed due to flooding.
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Supreme Court asked to deny AG request in Safe At Home case
Jefferson City News Tribune
Missouri's Supreme Court should deny Attorney General Josh Hawley's request for an order blocking a St. Louis County judge from getting a wife's home address in a divorce case, attorneys for the husband said in a 12-page filing Friday. The filing was ...
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Appeals court upholds divorce settlement but rules ex-wife only entitled to 50 percent of pension
St. Louis Record
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District has affirmed a circuit court ruling in a couple's divorce settlement with the exception of the amount of a state pension the husband must turn over to his former wife. In a decision filed May ...
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Kirk Stange Teaching CLE for Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys' 59th Annual Convention
Digital Journal
On Saturday, June 24th, Kirk Stange, St. Louis, Missouri Divorce Lawyer and Founding Partner of Stange Law Firm, PC, will be speaking at the Lodge of Four Seasons (Lake of the Ozarks) for the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys' 59th Annual ...
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