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 likes to pretend it is a clean slate, a month that forgives what came before. Yet the new year can also sharpen old truths. In Jackson County, Missouri, at Independence, that reckoning arrived when a petition for dissolution of marriage was filed on January 20, 2026, setting Susan Byrne and Benjamin Byrne on a path that neither fresh calendars nor shared routines could undo.

Married on December 23, 2000, in Independence, the Byrnes built a life anchored in Lee’s Summit. Despite still living under the same roof, the petition states there is no reasonable likelihood the marriage can be preserved, declaring it irretrievably broken. Time, it suggests, has done its quiet work.

Three children were born or adopted during the marriage, with one remaining unemancipated, Madalyn Renee Byrne, now 20. Susan Byrne asks the court to award joint legal and joint physical custody under a parenting plan yet to be finalized, designating her address for mailing and educational purposes and providing Benjamin reasonable visitation. She further seeks orders requiring both parents to maintain medical, dental, and hospitalization insurance for the child and to split uninsured expenses equally.

Represented by Cheri Cole Simpkins of The Simpkins Law Firm, LLC, Susan Byrne requests that marital assets and debts be divided fairly and equitably, or, alternatively, that any separation and property settlement agreement be approved if reached. Each party’s non-marital assets and debts are to be set aside individually. She asks that maintenance be denied to both parties, that each pay their own attorney’s fees unless litigation is intentionally prolonged, and that her maiden name be restored as the hyphenated surname Hartman-Byrne. The petition also seeks such other relief as the court deems just and proper—an ending, carefully itemized.

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