Q: Can a motion to compel a judge to sign a divorce decree be filed? See below additional info.
I would like to know if the plaintiff/petitioner in an uncontested divorce with no children and no property division between both parties can file a motion to compel the court to render a judgment and sign a divorce decree when that judge has far surpassed the thirty(30) days from the time of filing the petition with the court clerk. This is in the state of Missouri.
A: Based on your city being Grandview, MO, I am going to assume you are in Jackson County, MO. They have a specific docket for uncontested cases and you need to send in a proposed judgment. If you have an attorney, they will have done this. If you do not have an attorney, you need to do it. There are proposed forms on the courts.mo.gov website. Jackson County also gives you a hearing date on the uncontested docket. If you have attended that already and the Judge said you had a proposed judgment that was sufficient, the Judge should have signed it then and there. If that happened, call the court to ask if it was mailed to you. If you have an attorney and they sent in a proposed judgment, you will have to be patient as sometimes it can take a couple months. Judges sign documents based on first in-first out basis with the exception of expedited or emergency orders. As an aside, a thirty day wait is not that long in the legal system, though most judges try to sign family law judgments sooner rather than later.
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