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.
January carries a different hush than the closing days of December. Filings made at year’s end often feel hurried, like doors shut against the cold before midnight arrives. A petition filed at the beginning of the year moves more slowly, with the weight of time already considered. Such is the tone of the petition filed January 7, 2026, in the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, where Rhonda J. Soest asked the court to dissolve her marriage to Edward H. Soest.
Their marriage began on April 10, 1999, registered in St. Louis County, and from it came two children—one now emancipated, one still a minor. The petition states plainly that there is no reasonable likelihood the marriage can be preserved and that it is irretrievably broken. Both parties are residents of St. Louis County, employed, and neither is a member of the armed forces. Health insurance for the children is available through Edward Soest’s employment, a detail set down quietly, without argument.
Filed through her attorneys, Timothy Philipp and Patrick T. Hs of the Philipp W Firm, the petition asks the court to dissolve the marriage and to divide marital property and obligations fairly and equitably, or to find any marital settlement agreement not unconscionable. Rhonda Soest requests that each party’s separate property be set aside, that both parties share joint physical custody of the unemancipated child, and that she be awarded sole legal custody, consistent with her proposed parenting plan. The petition further asks that the parties be ordered to follow the custodial and support provisions of that plan and that each party be responsible for his or her own attorney’s fees and court costs. It also seeks such further relief as the court deems just and proper.
Set at the start of the year, the filing feels less like an ending rushed and more like a long-acknowledged truth finally spoken aloud.
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