People preparing for divorce often worry about conflict with their spouses. They fear protracted custody litigation or disputes about property division. Others believe that their spouses may fight them about the necessity of a divorce.
Some people mistreat their spouses or violate their marital vows and then expect to remain married. Their spouses may feel trapped and disempowered. One spouse may fear the possibility of the other trying to prevent the courts from granting the divorce, possibly by making questionable claims in court.
Others may worry about a spouse simply refusing to respond. Can one spouse delay or prevent a divorce by ignoring their service with legal paperwork?
Respondents have limited time to reply
Allowing one spouse to prevent a divorce by ignoring the process would be vastly unfair for the other spouse. Thankfully, the state has rules in place that prevent one spouse from interfering in the divorce process when the other has already made the decision to file.
Spouses always have the opportunity to withdraw their petitions if circumstances change, but the divorce can move forward even without the cooperation of both spouses. The person served with divorce paperwork has 21 days to respond.
If they ignore the documents and do not respond, then the filing spouse can request a divorce by default. In many cases, a divorce by default can be faster than a contested divorce. If one spouse refuses to participate in the process, the other can move forward and may even be able to set the terms that they view as appropriate.
Learning about what happens during a divorce may help people overcome their nervousness about filing. A spouse’s unwillingness to participate in the process will not prevent a divorce from occurring.
