What Happens If Spouse Does Not Respond To Divorce Papers Florida

Joni Salomon is the founder of the Salomon Law Corporation in Beverly Hills California.

What happens if spouse does not respond to divorce papers florida. Once service has been completed the respondent will be deemed served. Assuming your spouse does not file a response a judge will file a default hearing on your uncontested divorce. You may have to move forward with a contested divorce though. During this period of time the divorce cannot proceed.

Instead you just have to state that the marriage is irretrievably broken. When this time period expires and if your spouse does nothing you can ask the court to grant your divorce by default. Your spouse has seven days from the day the Petition is received to return the Acknowledgment of Service form. This form allows your spouse to say that theyve received the Petition and whether they wish to defend the divorce or not.

The court will then ask you about matters regarding property division and child custody. This usually involves a brief hearing before a judge so he can confirm the details of your case. If you cannot locate your spouse to serve the forms the court may place a notice in the local newspaper or another publication that your spouse is likely to read. The good news is that in Florida you can still get a divorce even if the other party will not sign the divorce papers.

Default is the legal term to describe the failure to respond to a lawsuit including a divorce petition or complaint. If granted this will allow your case to proceed to a final hearing without the participation or presence of the respondent. Youre free to schedule a hearing regardless of whether or not the other person has responded. If your spouse does not respond within the 30-day timeframe the court may decide to grant you a divorce on your terms.

Because Florida is a no-fault state you dont have to prove that one spouse or the other was at fault in the divorce. In Florida you have 20 days from the day you were served to respond. A failure to respond to a divorce petition served on you in Tallahassee or any city in Florida can only hurt your interests in the divorce. The court will then consider your petition and award you the relief you requested.

The court might deliver the papers. If your spouse does not attend the court date or attends and continues to not contest the divorce the judge may enter a divorce order based on the facts in your complaint and the response. Answer after being served with divorce papers. In a divorce case obtaining a default judgment may require additional steps and paperwork but generally if the petitioning spouse can show that he or she has properly served the other spouse and that spouse has failed to respond the judgment will be entered and the spouse will be bound by the terms of the divorce.

A court hearing will be set and your spouse will be served with the court date. In the divorce context if you serve your spouse with a divorce complaint and it goes unanswered you can ask a judge to grant your divorce by default. Therefore the courts must ensure that a person cannot be divorced without their knowledge. If your spouse lives abroad then they get more time to respond.

If a respondent was properly served with a petition but fails to answer a clerks default can be sought. To request that the court enter a divorce by default you will need to submit a separate petition to the court stating that your spouse did not respond to the divorce petition. Now that youve served the divorce papers but received no response you can move forward with the case once the protected period has elapsed. If you do not respond during this time the above scenarios can play out.

You must attend and request the divorce in person. What Happens If You Dont Respond to Divorce Papers. Requesting a Divorce by Default Generally the court will simply not grant you a divorce just because your spouse does not respond to your divorce papers. If the respondent spouse fails to respond within the 30-day requisite period then the petitioner spouse can proceed with the divorce without the respondents input.

If you have filed for divorce on this basis and your spouse does not respond to the Court you will need to consider issuing a new application for divorce citing another reason which doesnt require explicit consent from both parties. This will be the case if for example you are seeking a divorce on the basis of 2 years separation with consent. Hell grant you a divorce but depending on the laws in your state he may not be able to do much more than that. In order to apply for decree nisi the first of two official stages of divorce if your spouse has not sent an acknowledgement of service to the court you must demonstrate that the divorce petition has been served on your spouse the respondent.

For example if you have used unreasonable behaviour 5-year separation or desertion you can proceed without the return of the Acknowledgment of Service.