Can Your Spouse Prevent a Divorce by Refusing to Sign the Papers?
If your marriage has been contentious, with fairly regular disagreements on a wide range of issues, it may not be surprising, should you file for a divorce, that your spouse refuses to acknowledge the divorce proceeding or chooses not to sign the divorce papers. What are your options when you spouse won’t work cooperatively with you to end the marriage and move on? Can your spouse prevent a divorce?
Can Your Spouse Block a Divorce Proceeding?
In Texas, as in all states, because of the concept of “no-fault” divorce, a spouse cannot technically prevent a divorce from occurring. A spouse may challenge the terms and conditions of the divorce—how custody and visitation are determined, the availability and amount of child and/or spousal support, and how marital debts and assets are divided. When that happens, the proceeding is referred to as a “contested” divorce. However, because there’s no requirement that the party seeking a divorce establish any cause for that divorce (other than “irreconcilable differences”), a party who objects to a divorce will not be able to stop if from happening.
What Should You Do If Your Spouse Indicates an Unwillingness to Acknowledge a Divorce Proceeding?
If you advise your spouse that you want to get a divorce or plan to file for a divorce, and they indicate that they won’t accept that, you need to file the complaint anyway. When you file the complaint, you will be required to deliver a copy to your spouse. If they respond to the complaint, disagreeing with any of the allegations, the divorce will be considered “contested.”
If, on the other hand, your spouse fails to respond to the complaint or refuses to do so, you can petition the court for a default judgment, once the deadline for filing an answer to the complaint has expired. To obtain a default judgment, you’ll need to prove that your spouse was served with a copy of the complaint, and you’ll have to prove that they did not file any type of response. Once the default judgment is entered, you can ask the court to establish the terms of custody, visitation, support and property distribution. Because your spouse has not responded to the initial divorce complaint, the court can typically make these determinations without your spouse’s input.Contesting a Divorce Will Not Prevent It from Being Finalized
If your spouse does respond to the divorce complaint in a timely manner, but disagrees with the allegations, the court will typically schedule hearings to resolve the disputes. However, the resolution of disputes will only address the ultimate determination of custody, visitation, support and property allocation. If there are allegations of cause, the court may take evidence and testimony to establish the validity of those assertions. However, even when a divorce complaint includes allegations of fault, it typically includes allegations of irreconcilable differences as well. Accordingly, even if the court rejects the allocation of fault, the divorce will still be granted on no-fault grounds.
Contact the Proven Divorce and Family Law Attorneys at Bailey & Galyen
At the law office of Bailey & Galyen, we offer a free initial consultation to every client. For an appointment with an aggressive and knowledgeable divorce and family lawyer, contact us by e-mail or call our offices at 844-402-2992. We will take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
