Step 1 in a divorce is getting your case on file with the court. In order to do that, we need to prepare a Petition for Dissolution, and we also have some financial schedules that you will need to complete. If your spouse has already filed for divorce, then we will be filing an Answer and a Counterpetition and the same financial statements.
The Petition for Dissolution is a form, type of form document that we prepare that's based on the content that the Missouri Revised Statutes say we need to include in a petition in order for the court to grant a divorce. The financial schedules deal with your income and expense and your property and debt. So Schedule 1 will be your Statement of Income and Expense.
This form deals only with your income and expense. You do not include your spouse's income on there. So if you're a W-2 employee, on page 1 you're going to use a typical pay stub to fill it in. If you're self-employed, if you have income from rentals or dividends or any other source of income, that will be on page 2. And then you're going to fill in your typical monthly expenses.
If you are currently living in your marital home and you know you're going to be relocating, use your current expenses. If you relocate or if your expenses change or your income change throughout the divorce, we can amend and file new statements to reflect those changes. Okay. So, just go with what you have now, and we will amend as the situation changes. Divorces are generally fluid situations where that typically happens. Uh, your statement of property is going to be a complete schedule of your assets and debts.
This is inclusive of your spouse and inclusive of property that might not be marital property, might be what we call separate property. Property you've inherited, property that was gifted to you, property that you had prior to the divorce. Mm-hmm. Make notes on that schedule if you have questions about how to characterize the property, and when you bring that in, we will discuss it and we will figure out how to properly characterize it. The statement of property also, use the information you have. You might not know exactly what's in your spouse's 401(k). 401(k). You might not know what is in their separate bank account. List the assets that you know about, list as much As much information as you have.
It's very typical in the beginning of a divorce for a person not to have a complete picture of all the financials, especially when some assets or debts are in the spouse's name. We can file amended statements as we gather information and the situation changes. So sometimes clients feel intimidated. I don't have all the information, and they let themselves get stuck in completing the schedules. Bring in what you have. Don't— let it paralyze you, and we will go through it and figure it out, and we will add as we gather more information. Thank you.