Divorce, formally referred to as “Dissolution of Marriage”, is the legal process by which a marriage is dissolved and both parties return to their former status of unmarried persons. Missouri is a “no fault” state, which means that one doesn’t have to allege their spouse did anything wrong in order to justify a divorce. If a married person wants to get divorced, all they have to allege is that the marriage is broken and they don’t believe it can be fixed.

It’s important to keep in mind that when two people marry, they are entering into a legal contract, in which they agree to share income, property, debts and family obligations. Therefore, when the Court dissolves the marriage it must also resolve what happens with all those things that were a part of that contract.

Therefore, in any divorce, these basic items have to be addressed:

1. Division of Property (houses, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, household good, etc)
2. Division of Debts (home loans, car loans, student loans, tax debt, credit cards, etc.)

and, if you have children:

3. Child Custody

– Physical Custody (who has physical possession of the children)

– Legal Custody (who makes decisions for the child as to medical care, schooling, etc.)

4. Child Support (will one parent pay the other to assist with expenses related to the children)

This is the most basic outline and each of these points involves many strategic considerations. I encourage you to refer to other sections under the “Practice Areas” tab for a more detailed explanation of each point.

Divorce can be “uncontested” where the parties agree on all the above items, or “contested” where they do not agree on at least one of those items. Normally, cases can only end one of three ways: by agreement/settlement between the parties out of court, by trial before a Judge, or by dismissal where both parties decide to drop the case and remain married.

If a case is uncontested, it will end with an agreement between the parties that states in detail how they will handle each of the above items. If the case is contested it will end by settlement, where after evidence collection and negotiating, they arrive at an agreement as to all the above items; or by trial where the Judge hears testimony and evidence and then decides him/her self how on all the above items will be allocated between the parties.

If you have questions about divorce, contact us today for a free and confidential consultation. We’re here to help!