One of the first steps to take when getting a divorce is simply to serve a summons to your spouse. Once they receive the divorce paperwork, they are supposed to respond to it, and you have to give them a set amount of time to do so. They have a right to be involved in the process, and they need time to consider the documentation and officially submit their response to start the divorce process.
But what happens if your spouse does not respond? Maybe you are having difficulty finding them or contacting them. Perhaps they are just being uncooperative on purpose, hoping that you will drop the entire notion of divorce and stay married. Can you still start the divorce yourself?
A default divorce
Yes, you can still get divorced, even if you can’t find your partner or if they refuse to respond to you. After the deadline—generally, 20 days—for them to respond has elapsed, the court can still issue a default divorce. Your divorce can still be approved even if your spouse never comes to a single hearing.
Often, this means that you are more likely to get the terms that you are requesting. If you have asked the court for a certain child custody arrangement or child support order, and your spouse isn’t there to counter that request or propose another arrangement, then the court may simply give you what you are asking for. This could potentially make your divorce less contentious than it would be otherwise.
That said, a non-cooperative spouse certainly does complicate things in many ways. Be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take.