Learn How to File for a Missouri Divorce

There is absolutely no reason to believe that,getting a divorce is a simple process. Just like any other American state, Missouri has its own set of divorce rules and regulations. Strict adherence to these laws is of absolute essence if you wish your divorce lawsuit to be accepted, and more importantly for the final verdict to be delivered in your favor.

How to File for Divorce in the State of Missouri?

A Missouri divorce case has to be initiated either by you or your spouse at a court of law after ensuring that all residency requirements of the state have been conformed to. The regulations clearly state that either you or your wife/husband must be living in Missouri for a minimum of 60 days beforehand for your petition of divorce to be deemed valid. The concerned court also has to possess the requisite jurisdiction-related authority to host the hearings of your divorce case. So when filing for divorce, you have to keep this in mind.

The hearings of the divorce lawsuit commence after you, in the capacity of ‘Petitioner’, initiate the proceedings seeking separation from your married partner. Your spouse will then be the ‘respondent’. As per the regulations present in Chapter 452 (Title 30) of the Missouri Statutes, the proceedings can take place in a court located in either your or your spouse’s county.

The MO divorce process also involves a ‘waiting period’ of 30 days. This means you must wait for at least 30 days after the divorce petition has been filed before the court can issue a divorce settlement decree. Incidentally, the terms ‘divorce’ and ‘dissolution of marriage’ have the same legal connotations, as per the marital rules prevailing in the state.

Filing for Divorce – Know the Grounds On Which You Can File

In Missouri, the law spells out clear-cut ‘grounds for divorce’, any of which can be cited as the cause for moving to the court with the divorce petition. Either you can bring in certain charges (subject to your being able to prove them) against your wife/husband, or the two of you can present a common divorce ground at court.

Whatever might be the cited cause for moving for divorce, the Missouri courts for divorce need to be convinced of the irretrievable nature of the damages to your married life. Only then would it accept your case. Once again, both you and your partner might plead this fact together, or one of you might point out the damages with the other not denying the charges.

All aspects of a divorce lawsuit that are related to you and your estranged partner are taken care of by the Missouri court. The proceedings take place in the Circuit Court (of the concerned county) within the state. The system requires all your divorce-related documents to bear the mark of the court’s name at the top. You also get a unique case number too.

Thankfully, you need not have to handle all the paperwork (which can become rather complicated) on your own. There is a Court Clerk, or the County Clerk, who would perform these tasks. You and your spouse can also rely on him/her to relay vital information from the courtroom to the two of you.

Property Distribution

Missouri is looked upon as a state that prescribes ‘equitable’ distribution of all marital assets and property once the divorce is granted. The division is performed between you and your spouse in a manner that the court deems to be ‘fair’. Do keep in mind that such ‘equitable’ distributions can mean in many cases unequal shares on the marital properties of either of you as well. The court wants to be fair, which may differ from being equal.

There are many factors that influence the decision regarding how the property items should be redistributed. The current economic conditions of you and your estranged partner, the worth of the non-marital assets, the value either of you had contributed to the property, or child custody rights – all are critical decision-controlling elements in this context.

The Paperwork Involved

During the time when the divorce court is looking into your lawsuit, you might be called upon to present any paper that might be relevant to the case. There can be about ten to twenty such important documents. Among them, the most critical divorce papers are the ‘Petition for Dissolution of Marriage’ (that had been used to initiate the proceedings) and the ‘Decree of Dissolution of Marriage’ that comes at the end.

Chapter 527 of the Missouri Statutes also allows you or your spouse (or both as the case might be) to revert back to your maiden names after the divorce is finalized. The notice of this has to be presented formally in newspapers in the counties of residence of both you and your spouse.

Alimony Payments

The nature of the alimony payments (if required at all) is handled by the divorce court of Missouri. In this, there are many factors that the court will consider.

The length of period for which you and your spouse had been married, your and your spouse’s age, future earning potentialities, employability, as well as the current financial requirements of the two of you are considered before the verdict is announced.

Alimony arrangements can also be broadly segregated into two types. First, there are the arrangements which require you to pay (or receive) for only a short time. Second, there might be certain payments that are made over a much longer stretch of time. The decision of the Missouri court is deemed to be binding on these issues.

Next is the issue of granting the custodial rights of any child that you and your spouse might have from your marriage. Several factors are considered for this, including the parental plans presented by both of you, the child’s comfort level and interactions with you and your spouse, his/her future requirements, and adjustability to the changed social life.

The court wants to make sure that your divorce with your wife/husband does not translate into a traumatic experience for your child. Irrespective of the circumstances, the best interests of the child are thus always the major concern.

The child support system can also require you to make or receive certain payments (depending on which one of you is granted the custodial rights). Such supporting payments can be stopped once the child becomes financially self-sufficient, gets married, enters military service or sadly passes away.

An additional period, ranging from 30 days to a maximum of 6 months, might be required if your spouse refutes your claim that your married life has ‘irretrievably broken down’. The court will use this period for analyzing the case, and may even suggest counseling sessions for both you and your estranged spouse. The eventual divorce decree would not however be using the counseling reports as precedents.

Divorce lawsuits can be theoretically time-consuming and complicated. Fortunately, the legal clauses prevalent in Missouri are sound and systematic, and they make the procedure of getting a divorce much easier.