What is a dissolution of marriage?
In most jurisdictions, the legal mechanism for ending a marriage is called “divorce”. In Missouri, it is called “dissolution”, because the “bonds of matrimony” are dissolved. Missouri is a “no-fault” state. If one party testifies that “the marriage is irretrievably broken” and “there is no likelihood that the marriage can be preserved”, the parties get their dissolution and the marriage is ended. The entry of an order dissolving the marriage is final when it is entered, subject to the right to appeal, but if the appeal does not challenge the finding that the marriage is “irretrievably broken”, the parties are “divorced” and free to behave as an single person, including remarrying.
