A contested divorce is a Missouri dissolution where you and your spouse do not agree, and a judge may have to decide the parts you cannot resolve yourselves. It is the same legal process as any other divorce. What changes is how much work happens between the day the case opens and the day it closes.
Some divorces follow a typical pattern and parties settle a few months after the case is filed. However, a contested divorce is much more complex and involves unique issues that must be dealt with effectively to reach a positive outcome in your case. When your case is complex, like many are, it is important to find legal representation that will be patient and work through the complications with you to work to find the most positive outcome for you and your situation.
What Makes a Divorce Contested
A Missouri divorce can involve up to four main issues, and disagreement on any one of them makes the case contested. You can be settled on three and fighting over the fourth, and that is still a contested divorce.
Where the disagreement is real but narrow, divorce mediation often resolves it without a trial. Where the assets are complicated rather than the relationship, a high net worth divorce may look contested simply because valuation takes time.
Court Resources in a Contested Divorce
When you are amidst a contested divorce, sometimes you need a little extra help with your case. The court provides a number of resources and options to aid attorneys in presenting your case to the court.
What Actually Drives the Length of a Contested Divorce
The court’s thirty day minimum between filing and judgment is a floor almost nobody hits. In a contested divorce the time goes into discovery, which is where both sides establish what the facts really are through interrogatories, document requests, subpoenas and depositions. That is also where most of the cost lives.
The practical consequence is that the two of you control the timeline more than the judge does. Every issue you resolve between yourselves is one the court does not have to hear evidence on. Cases that start contested very often end in a written agreement, and they get there faster when the disagreement is narrowed early rather than argued about at every stage.
Developing the Best Case Possible for Our Clients in St. Louis
From filing the appropriate motion in court to directing you to the most effective community resources, our firm is equipped to handle your case. We are experienced in dealing with the complex details of your legal situation.
Bardol Law Firm handles family law and nothing else, in the courts of St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County and Jefferson County. Knowing how a particular judge or family court commissioner runs a contested docket is not a marketing line, it is what lets us tell you early which fights are worth having.
Facing a Contested Divorce in St. Louis?
Contact a St. Louis contested divorce attorney at Bardol Law Firm to guide you through the court process.
Not sure whether your divorce is going to be contested?
Most people are not, early on. It is usually a question we can answer in one conversation. Bardol Law Firm handles family law and nothing else, in St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County and Jefferson County. We generally return calls within one business day.
This page is general information about contested divorce in Missouri, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.