You may have recently considered divorce and readied all the divorce papers. You asked your spouse to sign their part and they flat-out refused.
There are many reasons why your spouse may be refusing to sign the divorce papers: They think they can save the marriage, they are comfortable with what they have or they think staying married is better for their children or more morally correct. The list goes on.
Their refusal may have stunned you. This might get you thinking “Can they stop a divorce so easily by saying ‘no’?” The answer may surprise you and fill you with relief:
You may be granted a default divorce
No one wants to stay in an unhealthy or unhappy marriage, however, your spouse may have other plans in mind. Your spouse may try to delay a divorce or even halt it altogether.
You are in luck, there is only so much they can do to delay it.
You have the liberty to file a complaint to your local court and have a divorce granted to you as a “default divorce.” Your spouse will need to respond to a court summons, issued by a divorce petition, within a given set of time following proper notification. Typically your spouse will be given thirty days to appear in court to answer the divorce complaint. If your spouse fails to appear in court within the given time, then you will be granted a default divorce.
You may have to consider your children and assets when filing for divorce. Whatever your situation, it’s always wise to consider consulting experienced legal help to ease the divorce process.
