MISSOURI DIVORCE
You or your spouse have lived in Missouri and in the county of filing for ninety (90) days before filing the divorce.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Missouri address in the county of filing. Missouri civilian residents living overseas may file in Missouri if they have maintained their residency in Missouri.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in Missouri if they have been stationed in Missouri for 90 days or were residents of Missouri when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
TIf the spouses file a petition or otherwise have stated under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one of the spouses has so stated and the other has not denied it, the court shall make a finding whether or not the marriage is irretrievably broken and shall enter an order of dissolution accordingly.
WAITING PERIOD:
Missouri law requires that there is a thirty (30) day waiting period from the filing of the petition before the court will grant a judgment of dissolution of marriage.PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Missouri to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Missouri Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Missouri Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
St. Louis County: Civil Courts Building 10 North Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101-2044 Phone: 314-622-4433
St. Louis County: Family Court Center: 501 South Brentwood and Courts Building, 7900 Carondelet, Clayton, MO 63105 Phone: 314-615-4400 Fax: 314-615-4477
St. Charles County Courthouse: 300 N. 2nd Street, St. Charles, MO 63301 Phone: 636-949-3080 Fax: 636-949-7384
Greene County Courthouse: 1010 Boonville, Springfield, Missouri 65802 Phone: 417-868-4074 Fax: 417-868-4050
Cole County Courthouse: Post Office Box 503, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Phone: 573-634-9170 Fax: 573-635-5376
Platte County Courthouse: 415 Third Street Street, Platte, Missouri 64079 Phone: 816-858-2232 Fax: 816-858-3392
Jackson County Courthouse: 415 East 12th Street 3rd Floor Kansas City, MO 64106 Phone: 816-881-3934 Fax: 816-881-3681
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Missouri is approximately $163.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $36 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
Go to our questionnaire and get started today.
