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.
In the measured, procedural language of the courtroom, the quiet disintegration of a nineteen-year marriage entered public record when Bonnita J. Costello filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage against Robert M. Costello in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis on October 20, 2025. Represented by attorneys Hallie M. Van Duren and Jill A. Hetherington of The Center for Family Law, Bonnita’s filing is less an act of confrontation than one of formal disengagement—a recognition that what once held steady has fractured beyond repair.
Married on March 24, 2006, in Craighead County, Arkansas, Bonnita and Robert’s union endured the ordinary accumulations of time—shared property, obligations, the rhythm of mutual survival—until its final rupture on September 11, 2025, when they separated. There are no children to bind their futures, no petitions for maintenance, and no appeals to sentiment. The petition makes clear that both parties are employed, capable, and independent—each to manage their own livelihood, debts, and counsel.
What remains is the inevitable judgment that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” There is no scandal in the text, no great betrayal or overt hostility—only the precision of a system designed to dissolve what cannot be restored. Bonnita requests an equitable division of property and a final decree closing this chapter. In the end, the Costello marriage becomes another entry in the ledger of dissolution—where love’s end is documented not in passion or rage, but in affidavit, signature, and seal.
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