Rule 88.09.Parties not Represented by Counsel.

Rule 88.09 addresses parties who go through family court proceedings without a lawyer. It applies to every self-represented party in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, parentage, or the modification of a judgment in any such proceeding.

Two obligations apply to these parties. First, unless the circuit court waives it, the party must complete a litigant awareness program explaining the risks and responsibilities of representing themselves. A committee designated by the Missouri Supreme Court prepares the program’s content, but each circuit decides how it delivers the training and how it documents that a party has completed it.

Second, unless the trial court waives the requirement, the self-represented party must use the pleadings, forms, and proposed judgment prepared by a court-designated committee and approved by the Supreme Court. Once approved, these forms must be accepted by Missouri courts until the Supreme Court disapproves or supersedes them. The rule points to materials on self-representation in family courts available through the state’s self-help resource.

The rule is also careful to preserve the court’s ordinary authority. Nothing in Rule 88.09 stops a court from evaluating whether a pleading is legally sufficient, and nothing stops a court from entering judgment in a form different from the approved judgment template. The forms create a baseline for self-represented litigants; they do not tie the court’s hands.