Disclaimer: All facts gleaned from the filings stated hereafter are only as truthful as the petitioner. The tone of this article expresses a style of writing historically employed by America’s greatest writers and, as such, is for opinion purposes only. No intentional harm is due. Do not read if the topic of divorce (even your own) causes you emotional distress. Continue at your own risk.
On August 4, 2025, Jennifer J. Kolar-Burden filed a petition in Cook County to dissolve her nearly three-decade marriage to Matthew C. Burden. Married on May 31, 1997, in Manchester, Missouri, their life together stretched across 28 years, marked by the raising of two children—now adults—before arriving at what the petition calls an “irretrievable breakdown.”
Jennifer, 54, and Matthew, 57, continue to reside at the same LaGrange Park address. Yet the petition outlines a chasm that no longer allows for reconciliation. It describes past attempts to mend the relationship as unsuccessful and asserts that future attempts would be “impracticable and not in the best interests of the family.”
Represented by attorneys Sean P. MacCarthy and Vittorio F. Terrizzi of Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC, Jennifer seeks equitable division of the couple’s marital property, recognition of her non-marital property, and financial maintenance. She argues that Matthew, described as a man of “substantial income and wealth,” has the ability to sustain her and contribute to the support and educational needs of their children in a manner consistent with the lifestyle they shared during marriage.
The filing also requests that Matthew cover Jennifer’s legal fees, pointing to her lack of sufficient resources to shoulder the cost of litigation herself. With both parties’ lives deeply entwined in nearly 30 years of marriage, the case now enters the court’s hands—an effort to untangle a shared history through the precise language of law.
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