Divorce

If you are considering a divorce and you are concerned about your rights as a man, there are many associated issues which need to be considered.

Missouri divorces are classified as uncontested or contested. Uncontested divorces are typically quicker and less expensive because the parties agree on all of the issues in a divorce including the division of assets, child custody, child support and perhaps maintenance. Contested divorces are pretty much the opposite where the parties disagree on key issues, and consequently these types of divorces require more time, legal work and money.

Missouri is a "no fault" state. This means it is not necessary to show the judge that one of the parties caused the marriage to fail. Rather, the court only must find that "there is no reasonable likelihood the marriage can be preserved, and therefore it is irretrievably broken.

To file for divorce in Missouri, at least one of the parties must have been a resident of the state for at least the past 90 days. Whoever files for divorce, must file the petition in the circuit court of the county in which they reside.

However, if children are involved, then the Missouri Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act may come into play.

the children must have resided in Missouri for 6 months
the child and at least one of the parties must have significant connections and substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care
the child must be physically present and requires emergency protection, or
it is in the best interest of the child for the court to assume jurisdiction because no other state could or would under any other grounds

Maintenance (or alimony): can be granted if one party can prove they lack sufficient property to provide for their reasonable needs, and they are unable to support themselves through appropriate employment. Typically maintenance is awarded only for a specific duration of time.

Mediation: In many courts, the judge will require the parties to attempt to agree on the terms of a divorce by ordering them to attend a session with a mediator. A mediator is a neutral attorney, typically a very experienced family law attorney whose role is to assist the parties in coming to an agreement without having a trial where the judge will decide everything. Although in most cases settling the

divorce prior to trial is in the parties' best interests, the mediator does not decide what happens and has no power to dictate the

final terms of the dissolution.

Waiting Period: The court can grant a judgment of dissolution only after 30 days following the filing of the petition for divorce.

The opposing party "Respondent" must be served with a summons and a copy of the petition for dissolution. This means either a county sheriff or a private process server will deliver "serve" the aforementioned documents on the opposing party. Sometimes this process can take awhile, especially if the respondent is hard to locate or is actively evading being served with the papers. To make things easier, if both parties agree, the Respondent may consent and waive service, if the required form is signed, verified, and filed with the court.

The respondent has 30 days to respond to the petition for dissolution. If a response is not properly filed with the court, the judge can issue a default judgment based only on the evidence presented by the Petitioner. The Court will often award the Petitioner what they are asking for, so it is essential the Respondent act quickly when they are served with a petition for dissolution.

The Discovery Process: Following the filing of the petition for dissolution and the response from the other party, discovery will take place where each party will request information from the opposing party to potentially be used as evidence in the divorce case. Discovery includes interrogatories (written questions to opposing party), requests for documents, deposition (an oral examination under oath) and possibly medical or mental evaluations.

Annulment: If an annulment is granted, there is no divorce, but rather the marriage is ended because it was never legally valid. Annulments can be challenging to get and are only granted under specific circumstances, including: when the spouses are related, lack of capacity to marry, fraud, lack of assent, impotency, duress, spouse under age, criminal conviction precluding marriage,

failure to consummate, and bigamy.

Property Division: Missouri law recognizes two categories of property owned by the parties to a marriage, "Marital" property and "Non-Marital" property. Marital property is generally all property acquired after the parties were married, and the increase in value of other property if the other party contributed to the maintenance or appreciation of the property. Non-Marital property

includes assets owned by one party prior to the marriage and assets acquired by inheritance.