Missouri

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 85 out of 100

Missouri judges divide marital property and set maintenance in whatever proportions and amounts they find just, and conduct during the marriage is a listed factor for both. A party can remove the assigned judge once without giving a reason. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Missouri ranks 36 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court sets apart each spouse’s nonmarital property and divides marital property ‘in such proportions as the court deems just’ after considering listed factors, with no presumption of equal division. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.330.1-.2
Alimony	20 / 20	Maintenance is set ‘in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just’ after considering ten listed factors, with no formula or durational cap. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.335.2
Fault	20 / 20	‘The conduct of the parties during the marriage’ is a listed factor for both property division and maintenance. Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 452.330.1(4), 452.335.2(9)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court may order a party to pay a reasonable amount of the other’s attorney’s fees after considering all relevant factors, including both parties’ financial resources, the merits of the case and the parties’ actions during the case. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.355.1
Second opinion	10 / 20	In any civil action, including dissolution, a party is entitled to one change of judge without cause on timely written application. Mo. Sup. Ct. R. 51.05; State ex rel. Riggleman v. Briscoe, 203 S.W.3d 239 (Mo. App. E.D. 2006)

Getting in

No waiting period. Both people, each at least 18, apply to a county recorder of deeds in person or through the county’s online process, if it has one, and show government ID. There is no waiting period, and the license is void 30 days after it is issued.
RSMo §§ 451.040, 451.090, 451.150, 451.151

Who can marry you. Active or retired clergy in good standing with a Missouri church or synagogue, any judge (without pay), or a Missouri religious organization under its own customs when one spouse is a member may officiate. The statute does not address online ordination, but a marriage is not invalid for lack of officiant authority if either spouse believed it lawful.
RSMo §§ 451.100, 451.040.6

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot form a common-law marriage in Missouri, where the statute has voided them since 1921. Missouri generally honors a marriage valid where it was contracted, but in Hesington a Missouri couple could not create one on a short trip to a common-law state.
RSMo § 451.040.5; Hesington v. Estate of Hesington, 640 S.W.2d 824 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Missouri is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquires after the wedding and before a decree of legal separation or dissolution, however it is titled. Gifts, inheritances, premarital property and exchanges for them stay separate, and their growth stays separate unless marital assets or labor contributed, and then only to that extent.
RSMo § 452.330.2-.3

An inheritance that touches a joint account

Putting it in joint names usually makes it marital. Putting inherited money into both spouses’ names creates a presumption that it became marital, and only clear and convincing proof of no intent to give rebuts it. In Clark, an inheritance placed in joint mutual fund accounts was held marital, although mixing funds alone does not convert them.
Clark v. Clark, 919 S.W.2d 253 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996); Carter v. Carter, No. ED 112335 (Mo. Ct. App. Mar. 4, 2025); RSMo § 452.330.4

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. The common-law necessaries doctrine applies in Missouri in a gender-neutral way; the creditor must prove the goods or services were necessary, and where the spouses have separate assets the spouse who received the necessaries is primarily liable and the other spouse is secondarily liable.
St. Luke’s Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospital v. Underwood, 957 S.W.2d 496 (Mo. App. E.D. 1997); Medical Services Ass’n v. Perry, 819 S.W.2d 82, 83 (Mo. App. W.D. 1991); Hulse v. Warren, 777 S.W.2d 319 (Mo. App. 1989); Saint Francis Medical Center v. Watkins, 413 S.W.3d 354 (Mo. App. S.D. 2013)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

A surviving spouse who elects against the will takes one-half of the estate, subject to claims, if the decedent left no lineal descendants, or one-third if there are descendants, plus exempt property and allowances; the share is computed on the probate estate, and gifts made in fraud of marital rights can be recovered and treated as testamentary.
Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 474.160, 474.150

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under case law (Ferry 1979; Gould 1991; Thomas 2006) plus Mo. Rev. Stat. § 451.220. An antenuptial agreement is valid if entered into freely, fairly, knowingly, understandingly, and in good faith with full disclosure, and it will be upheld unless unconscionable; its fairness is determined as of the date of the agreement, and courts err by relying on events after execution. Maintenance waivers in antenuptial agreements have long been approved.
In re Marriage of Thomas, 199 S.W.3d 847 (Mo. App. S.D. 2006); Hosmer v. Hosmer, 611 S.W.2d 32, 35 (Mo. App. 1980); Ferry v. Ferry, 586 S.W.2d 782 (Mo. App. 1979); Gould v. Rafaeli, 822 S.W.2d 494 (Mo. App. 1991)

What an agreement needs. Marriage contracts affecting real or personal estate must be in writing and either acknowledged by each party or proved by one or more subscribing witnesses; case law requires full disclosure, and independent counsel is a factor rather than a requirement. A waiver of the elective share, before or after marriage, must be written and signed after full disclosure of the nature and extent of the right and for fair consideration.
Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 451.220, 474.220

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Courts use Form 14, which takes a schedule amount based on both parents’ combined income and splits it by each parent’s share. Support ends at 18, but continues to 21 for a child still in high school, or one enrolled in vocational or higher education who meets credit-hour, grade and transcript conditions.
RSMo § 452.340.3, .5, .8; Missouri Form 14 directions

Moving away with a child. A parent must send written notice by certified mail at least 60 days before moving a child’s principal residence for 90 days or more, and the move may proceed unless the other parent files a motion within 30 days. If opposed, the parent moving must prove good faith and the child’s best interest.
RSMo § 452.377

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: 90 days. One spouse must have lived in Missouri, or been stationed there in the armed services, for the 90 days right before filing. The rule does not depend on where the marriage took place or where the grounds arose.
RSMo § 452.305.1(1)

How long it takes. A judgment needs 30 days after filing, and if the other spouse denies under oath that the marriage is broken, the filer must prove adultery, unreasonable behavior, six months’ abandonment, 12 months apart by mutual consent, or 24 months apart before filing. Without fault or consent, only the 24-month route remains.
RSMo §§ 452.305.1, 452.320.2

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 760 days from arrival to a final decree (730 days apart before filing (covers the 90 days of residence) + 30-day wait). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

A court here can divide property here with no power over the absent spouse. In 1978 the Missouri Court of Appeals held that personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse isn’t needed to divide marital property located here.
Chenoweth v. Chenoweth, 575 S.W.2d 871 (Mo. Ct. App. 1978)

A prenup from elsewhere with no clause can be tested under Missouri law. In 2000 the Missouri Court of Appeals tested a Louisiana prenup with no choice-of-law clause under Missouri law, reasoning that it would be performed where the couple divorced. The agreement failed for lack of disclosure.
Rivers v. Rivers, 21 S.W.3d 117 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Missouri and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Missouri lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Missouri” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.