Get a Divorce for Free in St. Charles County, Missouri

Making the Choice to Represent Yourself In a Divorce

Most married couples know that getting a divorce can be messy, complicated, and expensive, especially when both parties wanting the divorce don't agree on the terms. Sometimes it takes a mediator to make the couple see the reality of their situation. A third party can sometimes help an argumentative or resentful spouse see the best way to separate assets and agree on child custody before going their separate ways. After being through a divorce, most people realize the only person that wins in the end is the attorney. After an attorney processes the required court documents, making in excess of $1500, most people realize the terms of the divorce are still compromised and they had to give up something to get something in return from their spouse. So while the couple feels the attorney was able to help them acquire more on their behalf, in reality the other spouse probably just folded in order to get what they wanted or to avoid the cost of making things more difficult. More often than not, this stage can be reached without an attorney if the couple can set aside their differences and work together to achieve their mission.

In the end, the couples that can agree to work together to dissolve their marriage, agreeing on division of property and workable custody arrangements with mutual respect is the couple that stands to save the most money. These couples who can work to reach a mutual agreement are the best candidates for filing their own divorce, a process that can save them both time and a lot of money.

The process for filing a divorce without an attorney is called "pro se," which is pronounced "PRO-SAY" and means "For Self." If someone is a quick learner, fairly intelligent, and can follow procedures with minimal instructions, representing themselves will be a fairly easy process. Knowing what debts and assets will be divided and how a child custody agreement will be reached is a very important aspect to consider before moving forward as your own attorney in a divorce. If the couple can agree on how to reach a sensible agreement about these subjects, filing a divorce Pro-se will be easy. If there are minor disagreements or if one party has an extremely strong case over the other, the process might be mildly difficult, but still achievable.

If a couple cannot divide things mutually, agree on visitation, or payment of debts, they can still file their own divorce and save a lot of time and money, but the court does not recommended doing so unless each party is comfortable with all the possible results that could take place, especially when minor children are involved.

When children and custody are involved and a mutual agreement with the spouse cannot be reached, an attorney is the safest way to obtain a divorce. If having an attorney is not affordable, proceeding this way is still possible but there is more risk involved. A person should consider, very carefully, all of the risks of their individual situation before proceeding under the "pro se" laws.

The state of Missouri has been working on a program that allows individuals to process their own divorce papers (legally called "Dissolution of Marriage" documents) through the family courts without representation of an attorney. It used to be that the courts required you to get an attorney in order to file a petition because individuals were not following the proper procedures and petitions were being thrown out in court due to improper format, which was wasting the courts time and causing major work overload for the circuit clerks.

But with the growth of the Internet, many people are intelligent and informed enough to complete the dissolution of marriage process without the assistance of an attorney. The state of Missouri has recognized this and made tools available for those seeking a non-contested divorce that make the process simple and affordable for anyone.

Where to Begin

What is the First Step... Where to Begin

The first step in processing your own divorce is to visit the St. Charles County website at www.selfrepresent.mo.gov. The Joint Pro Se Implementation Commission launched this website in September of 2007 after many requests to help those without attorneys to file their own divorce. The main purpose of the site is to assist individuals who are capable of filing for their own divorce to do so without the expense of an attorney. The site provides individuals with the proper knowledge they need to file for divorce and a set of uniform proceedings to follow with forms that are acceptable to the county where they will be filed. By having a uniform system and pre-made documents for individuals to use, the court can easily review any filing and proceed with fewer complications that were wasting their time in the past. Although the site was started in 2007, it is still considered to be under development while the courts proceed with several of these cases in a trial phase, improving the steps and the process as needed. Individuals who have used this site in the divorce process have been pretty satisfied with their results.

One local woman, Janice Markus, recently used the website to file for her divorce and was very satisfied with her results. She was married to a man who was arrested for solicitation of prostitution, abandoned her and her children without any money or personal property, and she did not have a job. The couple had no children in common, so child custody was not an issue for her. She simply wanted to be divorced to get away from her malicious behaving spouse and needed the courts to help her divide property and debts. Although her spouse refused to reply to her request to get a divorce, she was able to file her own petition and obtain a date for a hearing so that she could appear before the court and plead her case. The process only cost her $125. She said she filed a motion to "proceed as a poor person" since her husband had abandoned her. Unfortunately she was not able to do so because of her assets and her husband's income. A person without any income or real assets is able to file a request for a waiver that would relieve them of the $125 filing fee. In essence, the divorce process would then be free to those individuals.

Recent Petitioner's Case - A First Hand Account of the Process

In visiting the website to file for a divorce, the courts would make you believe the pro-se process in only for a non-contested divorce (when both parties agree on the terms of the divorce). However, Janice was able to proceed with the filing and have her husband served with his half of the documents even though he did not agree to her terms in her initial request for divorce. Here are the steps she took:

Janice sent her husband an email with the requests for their divorce asking for fair division of debts and marital property. She moved out of their family home giving up that asset for her freedom and removing herself from a controlling environment, she took one of the two vehicles and sold much of the household goods in order to obtain food and needs for her and her two children, something typically forgiven by the courts in an abandonment situation (She was not working and had no access to bank funds or her husbands money so she sold what she could in a yard sale to feed herself and her family and moved in with a friend).

When her husband did not reply with an agreed settlement, she followed the steps on the local website to file her "Petition for Dissolution" (the request to the court for the divorce).

She was required to take a "Litigant Awareness Program" which consisted of the following: taking a survey, watching a video, and printing off a certificate.

Once she completed the Litigant Awareness Program she completed the forms provided on the Internet that have to be turned into the courts. Janice said, "The packet of forms can be a little intimidating with a total of 70 pages, but I didn't have to complete many of them pertaining to child custody since we do not have any children together." There is also a section that the spouse is required to complete in section 5 of the forms called, "Respondent's answer to Petitioners Petition for Dissolution of Marriage" (Form CAFC010). This section is sent to the responding spouse so that they can reply to the courts regarding the divorce. The court requires all 70 pages to be submitted as a request for the divorce, even if the pages do not apply under the individual circumstances.

When Janice turned her forms into the circuit clerk, she requested the waiver to proceed as a poor person, which she completed and submitted with all her documents. The court will decide if a person can proceed "In Forma Pauperis" (the legal term to proceed "as a poor person"). In her case, the motion was denied and she was required to submit the payment of $125.

After filing with the court, Janice made an extra effort to provider her husband with the opportunity to complete his portion of the documents. She sent him 4 certified return receipt mailings of the entire packet to his home, his work, and his mothers house, as well as a temporary residence he had been staying at for the past year. In addition, she faxed a copy of the forms to his work and retained fax receipt information and tracking records for all that was sent to him. Although he did not respond to any, she had verifiable records that she could use in court showing that she made every attempt to contact the respondent and offer him the opportunity to reply to the courts. (Certified documents should be sent as deliverable to the designee only to show proof that the respondent signed for the papers himself and not a representative).

Despite her efforts to serve the spouse with certified documents, the court accepted her Petition for Dissolution and prepared a summons for the spouse, having him served by the local Sheriffs department in order to obtain an "Answer" from her husband. The court has a rule that after serving the respondent, they have 30 days to submit their answer or reply to the courts with their own motion. This can be tricky if the respondent is not easy to get in contact with. Her husband worked out of town and was rarely at their local residence, so the courts sent a certified letter in addition to the ones that she sent to ensure the respondent had a chance to reply. This delayed her process a bit, but enabled her to proceed.

Once the 30 days has passed, a "date to appear" is set by the courts, and a notice of hearing is sent to both parties involved in the case. If the spouse (respondent) has not submitted and answer or replied to the court, the date is set anyway. If the spouse (respondent) does not appear in court, the courts will proceed without them. That means whoever appears in court will have the opportunity to get the most out of the divorce because the respondent will not have the chance to plead otherwise.

Although Janice's case is still pending, since her spouse has not replied to or submitted an answer to the courts regarding the petition for dissolution, she was assured by the courts that in the absence of his answer, her court date would be sometime in September of 2010. She filed her papers in May of 2010 (I will keep readers posted on the updates of this case through the comments section below but it is expected that she will appear in court with or without the respondent in order to plea her case. She has also asked for $900 maintenance in the case due to the circumstances of his behavior and the abandonment but was very fair in her request to divide debts and assets. Since no children are involved and Missouri is a no fault state it is certain she will be granted her divorce but the terms awarded by the court are still up in the air.)

Mediation Required for Those With Children

If children are included in the case the courts will require some mediation and both parents will be required to complete a class on the Internet and obtain a certificate about shared parenting after a divorce.

Know RMSO Section 452 - Laws about Divorce In Missouri

Before filing a Petition for Dissolution through the St. Charles County Courts, a person should do adequate research on the laws that revolve around the family courts. The Litigant Awareness Program, while they teach you how to file for your divorce, they don't necessarily cover what your legal rights are nor do they tell you what you should ask for in the divorce. RMSO Section 452 "Dissolution of Marriage, Divorce, Alimony and Separate Maintenance" covers all the laws, rights, and obligations of the parties involved in a divorce case and many of the laws can be used as a reference if the case goes to court. A person who represents them self in court should know these laws, print a copy of those that pertain to their circumstances, and take a copy to court to refer to should they need to address the court with such issues. These are the laws that attorneys use to argue their cases for their clients in divorce court and they are very important when fighting for alimony, support, or maintenance as well as division of property.

Use Missouri Case Net as a Tracking Tool

Many people are becoming aware that all court proceedings are available to the general public via the Internet. Missouri Case Net is a system that was set in place for the state of Missouri to track all court proceedings and the general public can obtain any of that information without discretion. Janice has offered her file as a sample. Her case proceedings can be viewed to gain a better understanding of Case Net works by visiting the Missouri Case Net website . The link will open a name search page with search fields to type in the litigants name (or the person who has filed for the divorce). In her case, the litigants last name is "Markus" and the first name is "Janice." Populating her name in the open search fields and clicking the "FIND" button will reveal her specific case information. The case file will appear in a table with the case number in blue. Clicking the blue case number link on that page will open the detailed information about the case.

The steps that have been taken to complete her divorce will be noted in the "Docket Entrie" which can be viewed in detail by clicking on the Docket Entries tab. The options for viewing the docket entries have already been formulated. Simply click the FIND button again on the lower left corner of the screen to view the entries made by the court clerks. It is important to use this tool to keep track of all proceedings in a divorce because sometimes the court runs into roadblocks and will not call the petitioner directly to notify them. It is the petitioners responsibility to ensure that all steps are completed in the divorce process and if things are not moving forward, a call to the circuit clerk may be required. For this reason, it is also good to form a strong relationship with the clerk.

By law, the clerks will not be able to give you any legal advice, but they can tell you if the court is waiting on any documentation or if a step must be repeated or completed in a different manner in order to achieve the next step in your divorce proceeding. While you can't ask for advice, you can ask if the court is waiting on anything from you or if you should expect anything from the court in the next few days. Another good questions is "what are we waiting on?" This question, when answered will give you a pretty good indication of what must happen next. Does the court expect you to submit anything, are you waiting on the respondent, or are you waiting on the court. In either circumstance, Case Net is a great tracking tool to make sure everyone is doing their part and you don't miss any notifications from the court that require your action.

Disclosures

While representing yourself in "Dissolution of Marriage" seems simple and thrifty, keep in mind that all circumstances are not the same. An individual may seem confident and secure with filing for divorce on their own at first, then find they run into complications and need to hire an attorney to fix the mess they made.

As a rule of thumb, a person should be prepared for any outcome and not have expectations that are unrealistic. Sometimes in the divorce process a person has to give in on certain issues in order to achieve more important goals. With a realistic expectation and some perseverance, anyone can get divorced without the help of an attorney. The key is to do your research, be prepared, be civil, and be fair.

This article was written by a journalist from first hand experience who is not an attorney. Any legal advice should be acquired using the self-help tools provided by the County of St. Charles or through an Attorney who is licensed to legally practice law in the state of Missouri.

SOURCES:
Missouri Litigant Awareness Program (Retreived June 2010): http://www.selfrepresent.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=37293

Representing Yourself in Missouri Courts, Legal Terms (Retreived June 2010)
http://www.selfrepresent.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=11292

Missouri Case Net Litigant Name Search, June 2010: https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do