Nelson & Booth| What is a Petition?

Nelson & Booth
attorneys at law

What is a “Petition”?

The first step taken in starting any domestic action is the filing of the "petition." The petition is a simple, straight-forward legal document that contains basic information about the parties and the claim being filed. The spouse who first files the petition is called the "Petitioner." The other spouse — the spouse against whom the domestic relations Petition is filed — is called the "Respondent."

The following information is included in the petition:

Names of Husband and Wife;
Date and place of marriage;
Grounds for divorce, separate maintenance or annulment;
Names, dates of birth and ages of any children of the marriage, if any;
A request that the parties' property and debt be divided;
A request for child support and/or spousal support, if applicable;

If there are minor children of the marriage, additional information regarding the residence addresses and the persons with whom the custody of the children has been during the past five years is required to be included in the petition. In addition, if any previous actions have been filed requesting custody orders, those previous actions must be identified by the court in which they were filed, the date when filed and the case number.

NELSON & BOOTH is a law firm engaged exclusively in a family law practice emphasizing complex domestic relations actions, including divorce and determination of parentage, property division, child custody, parenting time, spousal and child support and representation of parents in cases of international child abduction.

The attorneys at NELSON & BOOTH are licensed to practice only in the
states of Kansas or Missouri.

E-mail: Ronald W. Nelson or Joseph W. Booth

nelson & booth

attorneys at law

Last updated 11/24/2003