Missouri Divorce Laws: Residency, Waiting Period, Custody and Support

One spouse must have been a Missouri resident, or a member of the armed services stationed in Missouri, for 90 days immediately before the case is filed. The case is filed in the county where either spouse lives.

The ground for dissolution of marriage is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, with no reasonable likelihood it can be preserved. If both spouses say under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken (or one says so and the other does not deny it), the court decides after a hearing. If one spouse denies it, the filing spouse must prove at least one of these facts: the other spouse committed adultery and the filing spouse finds it intolerable to live with them; the other spouse behaved in a way that the filing spouse cannot reasonably be expected to live with them; abandonment for at least 6 continuous months before filing; living separate and apart by mutual consent for 12 continuous months before filing; or living separate and apart for at least 24 continuous months before filing. The court may instead continue the case for 30 days to 6 months and suggest counseling, but cannot require it.

A judgment of dissolution cannot be entered until at least 30 days have passed since the petition was filed.

Missouri does not have a separate simplified divorce procedure in the statutes reviewed. When both spouses state under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one does and the other does not deny it, the court makes its finding after a hearing. The court must also have made provision for child custody, child support, maintenance and property division, and at least 30 days must have passed since filing.

Missouri is an equitable distribution state. The court sets apart each spouse's nonmarital property and divides marital property and debts in proportions it considers just, considering each spouse's economic circumstances (including whether the parent with custody should have the family home), each spouse's contribution, including as a homemaker, the value of nonmarital property, the spouses' conduct during the marriage, and custodial arrangements for minor children. Marital property is property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, except gifts and inheritances, property exchanged for pre-marriage or gifted property, property acquired after a legal separation decree, property excluded by a valid written agreement, and increases in value of nonmarital property unless marital assets or labor contributed to the increase. Property acquired during the marriage is presumed marital regardless of title, and nonmarital property does not become marital just because it was commingled.

Maintenance may be awarded only if the spouse seeking it lacks enough property, including marital property received, to meet reasonable needs, and cannot support themselves through appropriate employment or is caring for a child whose circumstances make it appropriate not to work outside the home. The amount and duration are what the court considers just after considering factors including financial resources, time needed for education or training, comparative earning capacity, the marital standard of living, obligations and assets, length of the marriage, age and health of the spouse seeking support, the other spouse's ability to pay, and conduct during the marriage. The order must say whether it is modifiable and may include an end date. The statute sets no formula.

Custody is decided by the child's best interests. There is a rebuttable presumption that equal or approximately equal parenting time for each parent is in the child's best interests; it can be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, if the parents agree on all custody issues, or if there is a pattern of domestic violence. When parents do not agree, the court must make written findings on factors including the parents' wishes and proposed parenting plans; the child's need for a frequent, continuing and meaningful relationship with both parents; the child's relationships with parents, siblings and others; which parent is more likely to allow contact with the other parent; the child's adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of everyone involved, including any history of abuse; any intention to relocate; and the unobstructed input of the child, free of coercion and manipulation. No specific age is set for the child's input. Custody or unsupervised visitation may not be given to a parent (or someone living with them) found guilty of listed offenses against a child.

Child support is set under guidelines established by Missouri Supreme Court rule, which must contain numeric criteria for computing support and address equal or substantially equal parenting time. The guideline amount is presumed correct unless the court makes a written or on-the-record finding that it would be unjust or inappropriate. Relevant factors include the child's and parents' financial needs and resources, the standard of living the child would have had, the child's physical, emotional and educational needs, custody arrangements and time with each parent, and work-related child care costs.

Yes, generally. In a divorce or legal separation involving minor children, or a later case deciding custody, the court must order the parties to attend educational sessions on the effects of custody and divorce on children, unless there is good cause (for example, the parties agreed on custody and visitation, or attending would endanger a party or child) or local court rule provides otherwise. The court may also order children to attend age-appropriate sessions. What is said in the sessions is not used in deciding the case.

Yes. The court enters a judgment of legal separation if the same 90-day residency and 30-day waiting requirements are met and the court finds there remains a reasonable likelihood the marriage can be preserved (so it is not irretrievably broken). The court must provide for child custody and support, maintenance and property division. Separately, a spouse who is abandoned without good cause and not supported may ask the circuit court to order support and maintenance.

Missouri calls an annulment a declaration of invalidity of marriage. Marriages between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, brothers and sisters (half or whole blood), uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews, and first cousins, and marriages by people who lack capacity to enter a marriage contract (unless a court with jurisdiction over them approves), are presumptively void. Maintenance may be awarded in a proceeding for nonretroactive invalidity.

No. Missouri law states that common-law marriages are null and void; a marriage is recognized only if a license was obtained and the marriage was solemnized by an authorized person.

A court may grant reasonable grandparent visitation if the grandparent has been unreasonably denied visitation for more than 60 days and: the parents have filed for divorce (grandparents may intervene on visitation); one parent has died and the surviving parent denies visitation to the deceased parent's parents; or the child lived in the grandparent's home for at least 6 months within the 24 months before filing. Grandparents generally may not file if the parents are married and living together with the child. Visitation must be in the child's best interests, the court may consult the child, and rights may end if the child is adopted.

Unless the child's circumstances clearly require otherwise and the court says so, child support ends when the child dies, marries, enters active military duty, becomes self-supporting (with the custodial parent's consent), turns 18, or turns 21. If the child is still enrolled in and progressing through high school at 18, support continues until the child finishes or turns 21, whichever comes first. If the child enrolls in vocational school or college by October 1 after high school graduation and completes at least 12 credit hours each semester with grades good enough to re-enroll, support can continue until the child finishes or turns 21; the child must give each parent transcripts and enrollment documents each semester. The court may extend support past 18 for a child who is physically or mentally unable to support themselves, is insolvent and unmarried.

Families receiving Temporary Assistance or MO HealthNet (Medicaid) are referred to the Child Support program automatically. Others can apply online through the Missouri Department of Social Services (Family Support Division) application, or download and print a paper application and send it by mail, email or fax. Processing can take up to 20 business days, after which you receive a letter with your case number. Application status: 573-556-3800.

A court or the Family Support Division can suspend a parent's licenses when the parent is not paying under a support order and owes the lesser of three months of support or $2,500, or ignores a subpoena or genetic testing order in a support or paternity case (only a court can suspend business, professional or occupational licenses). The parent is served a notice of intent and the license is suspended 60 days later unless the parent pays the full arrears or enters and follows an approved payment plan.

A support order can be modified only on a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing that the current terms are unreasonable. If applying the guidelines would change the amount by 20% or more, that is a prima facie showing of such a change (when the existing amount was the presumed guideline amount). In cases handled by the Family Support Division, the court must modify the order if the current amount differs from the guideline amount. You can ask the Family Support Division to review your order every 3 years (sooner only in special circumstances) by mailing or faxing a written request; it may then propose a modification, and any party who disagrees has 30 days to request an administrative hearing, with court approval of the final change.

Vital records in Missouri are not open to the general public; copies go only to people with a direct and tangible interest, including immediate family members. The Department of Health and Senior Services issues a Certified Statement Relating to Divorce for $15, showing only the spouses' names, date of divorce and county; statewide reporting of divorces began July 1, 1948. A certified copy of the actual divorce decree can only be obtained from the Circuit Clerk in the county where the decree was granted (fees vary).

A license from the county recorder of deeds is required before any marriage. Both parties sign the application in the recorder's presence or through the recorder's online process (online applications require identity verification and at least one applicant living in that county); incarcerated or deployed military applicants may use a sworn form. Each application includes the applicant's Social Security number (or a statement that he or she has none), and applicants must prove age with a certified birth certificate, passport or other government-issued ID. The license is void 30 days after it is issued. State law adds a $20 fee on top of any other license fee. Common-law marriages are void in Missouri.

No recorder may issue a marriage license to anyone under 18. The current statute has no parental-consent or court-approval exception.

A person who wants to adopt petitions the juvenile division of the circuit court in the county where the petitioner lives, where the child was born or is located, or where either birth parent lives; a living spouse may join, and the court may order joinder. For a child under 18, written consent is required from the mother (not before the child is 48 hours old), any presumed father or man who timely asserted paternity, and any current legal parents, unless an exception applies (such as termination of parental rights, abandonment, or failure to appear after service). A child 14 or older must consent. Consent is final when signed unless shown, before the final decree, not to have been freely given. Before the decree, a full investigation, including an assessment of the adoptive parents' home and background, must be completed and reported within 90 days.

When the child is the natural child of one of the petitioners and every parent whose consent is required has consented, the juvenile court may waive the investigation and report, except the criminal background check, and enter the adoption decree. The other parent's written consent is required unless an exception applies, such as termination of rights, abandonment, or failure to answer after proper service.

Letters of guardianship of a minor's person may be granted when the child has no living parent, when the parents (or surviving parent) are unwilling, unable or adjudged unfit to serve, or when parental rights have been terminated. Parents have first priority unless unfit or unwilling; a minor over 14 with no qualified parent may nominate a guardian; and a guardian named in the last surviving parent's will is appointed. Otherwise the court appoints the most suitable willing person whose appointment serves the child's best interest in a stable, permanent placement.

A guardian may be appointed for a person adjudged incapacitated: someone who, even with appropriate services and assistive technology, cannot receive and evaluate information or communicate decisions well enough to manage essential needs for food, clothing, shelter, safety or other care, so that serious injury or illness is likely. The court appoints an attorney for the respondent, who has rights including a jury trial and to be present, and the petitioner must prove incapacity by clear and convincing evidence. Before appointing a guardian, the court must consider less restrictive alternatives, including a durable power of attorney, a trust, a representative payee, supported decision-making agreements, assistive technology, or a limited guardianship, and must apply the least restrictive alternative.

A signed acknowledgment of paternity form is a legal finding of paternity and is filed with the state vital records bureau. Either signer may rescind it in writing, filed with the bureau, within the earlier of 60 days from the last signature or the date of an administrative or court proceeding to set support in which the signer is a party. After that, it can be challenged in court only for fraud, duress or material mistake of fact, and support obligations generally continue during the challenge.

A person files a petition verified by affidavit in the circuit court of the county where he or she lives, stating the current name, the new name and the reason. The judge orders the change if satisfied it is proper and not harmful to anyone else's interests. Notice of the change must be published at least three times in a county newspaper within 20 days after the order, except for petitioners who are victims of domestic violence or child abuse. People required to register as sex offenders cannot change their names while registration is required.

Missouri's child support program is run by the Department of Social Services (DSS) through its Family Support Division. It helps locate parents, establish paternity, and start and enforce child support and medical support orders. Custodial parents can apply online with Form CS-300EZ on the Missouri forms portal (formsportal.mo.gov). Payments are made through the Child Support Payments site, and parents can use the Child Support Customer Portal (my.mo.gov/child_support) and report address changes online.