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.
History rarely announces its turning points. More often, it arrives quietly—inside a courthouse file, in the measured language of a sworn petition. So it was on November 18, 2025, when Patricia Hopkins, through her attorney Cheri Cole Simpkins of The Simpkins Law Firm, LLC, placed before the Circuit Court of Jackson County a record of a marriage that had endured nearly three decades but could not outlast the distance that had grown between two people.
Married on September 20, 1997, in Lee’s Summit, Patricia and Ryan Christopher Hopkins Sr. built a long life marked by shared years, familiar routines, and the gradual shifts that accumulate like sediment. Their separation on January 1, 2025, marked the moment when their private fracture became irrevocable. The petition states plainly that their marriage is irretrievably broken, with no reasonable prospect of restoration.
Patricia seeks an orderly unwinding of their shared estate. She asks the court to dissolve the marriage; to approve any separation and property settlement agreement they may reach; or, if none is executed, to divide the marital property and debts in a fair and equitable manner under Missouri law. She requests that each party’s non-marital assets be set aside to their individual names, that Ryan be ordered to pay her reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, deposition costs, and expert witness fees, and that she be awarded maintenance, as she asserts she cannot support herself while he is capable of contributing to her needs. She also seeks the restoration of her maiden name, Brattin, and any other relief the court deems just.
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