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Legal Information: Missouri

Divorce

Updated: 
January 1, 2024

What are the basic steps for filing for divorce?

While divorce laws vary by state, here are the basic steps:

  1. You must meet the residency requirements of the state in which you wish to file.

  2. You must have a legally acceptable reason (“grounds”) to end your marriage.

  3. You must file divorce papers and have copies sent to your spouse. It’s possible that a person who is representing him/herself in a family case may have to complete a “Litigant Awareness Program” and file the Certificate of Completion with the court. The Certificate of Completion can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this page. To learn more about filing a summons and preparing a petition, go to the Starting the Court Case page in our Preparing for Court - By Yourself section. You can find more information about service of process in the question called What is service of process and how do I accomplish it?

  4. If your spouse disagrees with anything in the divorce papers, s/he will then have the opportunity to file papers telling his/her side. This is called “contesting the divorce.” In this case, you will have to attend a series of court appearances to sort out the issues. If your spouse agrees with everything, s/he should sign the papers and send them back to you and the court. This is called an “uncontested divorce.” If a certain period of time passes, and your spouse does not sign the papers or file any papers of his/her own, then you may be able to proceed with the divorce as an uncontested divorce anyway. You should speak to a lawyer in your state about how long you have to wait to see if your spouse answers the divorce papers before you can continue with the divorce. For legal referrals, go to our MO Finding a Lawyer page.

  5. If there is property that you need divided, or if you need financial support from your spouse, you will have to work that out in an out-of-court settlement or in a series of court hearings. Custody may also be decided as part of your divorce. To learn more about custody in your state, see our MO Custody page.