Can you refuse to sign divorce papers

Your spouse will then have 20 days to file a response with the court. Assuming your spouse does not file a response, a judge will file a default hearing on your uncontested divorce.

You must attend and request the divorce in person; the court will then ask you about matters regarding property division and child custody. Assuming your spouse has still refused to show, the court will generally grant the reasonable requests of whichever spouse has appeared at the default hearing. However, you should still speak to an attorney about these matters. Why bother trying to get your spouse to sign documents at all? The simple truth of it is that proceeding with a divorce is always easier when both parties are able to cooperate with one another.

If your spouse answered your original divorce petition contesting some or all of its provisions, talk to a divorce attorney in your state who can advise you on the best way to protect your rights. If you filed for divorce and your spouse simply has not responded and fails to appear for your court hearing, the judge may order your divorce and handle it as an uncontested matter based on the original petition.

In other cases, one spouse's failure to respond means the divorce is a contested proceeding. This can mean that the process may take longer and cost more. Sometimes, it is impossible to get your spouse's signature on your divorce papers because you do not know where they are.

When one spouse abandons the other and cannot be located, courts may issue divorce judgments based on spousal abandonment. If your state's divorce laws provide for this type of divorce, you may need to wait months and take additional actions in an attempt to locate and notify your spouse of your intent to file for divorce.

Every state now offers no-fault divorce , which means neither spouse has to prove the other did anything wrong in the marriage. This lessens the likelihood of a spouse refusing to sign the divorce papers because of a perception that they were somehow responsible for ending the marriage. If your spouse will not sign your divorce papers, know that you can still get divorced, although the process may take longer than you anticipated.

This portion of the site is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy, completeness, or changes in the law. While contested divorces can be contentious, there are several ways to work through them without going to court. Collaborative divorces and mediation are two ways all parties involved can work together to reach a settlement.

Finally, there is a type of divorce where the petitioner and respondent agree on the terms of the divorce from the very beginning. This is known as an uncontested divorce. While uncontested divorces might be rarer than contested divorces, they are not unheard of. Usually, before a couple can pursue an uncontested divorce, they have to be in agreement on issues like:.

In reality, a failure to sign divorce papers is a type of uncontested divorce, since the respondent is choosing not to contest any of the terms of the divorce. The difference, however, is that in traditional uncontested divorces, both spouses have come to an agreement before filing for divorce. If you are served with divorce papers, you should hire the services of an experienced divorce attorney as soon as possible.

You will have 30 days to respond to the divorce papers, and your lawyer will need as much time as possible to consider your case and how you can best respond.