What Happens If Your Spouse Wants a Divorce but You Don’t?
Most of the time divorce petitions do not come as a complete surprise; no one comes home from celebrating their anniversary with their spouse to find a divorce petition taped to the door of the marital home. Despite this, even though you knew that your spouse was unhappy about certain things in your marriage, you didn’t expect your spouse to give up on your marriage so quickly. After all, you have been making an effort to address the problems that bother your spouse; you have tried to set boundaries with your relatives on your side of the family and to communicate better with your spouse about money. Now that your spouse has filed a divorce petition, is your divorce a done deal? Yes and no. Several major steps still have to happen before your divorce becomes final, but you cannot unilaterally stop the court from dissolving your marriage. If one spouse wants a divorce but the other doesn’t, that is reason enough for the court to grant a divorce. If your spouse filed for divorce but you still cannot fathom that your marriage is over, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.
Ignoring Your Divorce Petition Will Not Make It Disappear
When one spouse files a divorce petition, the divorce has officially begun. Once a process server serves you with divorce papers, you have 20 days to file a response. 20 days does not seem like a long time to get over the shock of receiving divorce papers, and it isn’t. It is barely the length of time between when guests started arriving for your wedding and when you returned from your honeymoon.
If you don’t file a response, though, your spouse can request a default judgment. If this happens, the court will dissolve the marriage and grant all the requests in your spouse’s divorce petition, and you will have no say in the matter. Of course, you would rather have your spouse than 50 percent of the value of the marital home, but if you don’t speak up now, you will only get what your spouse listed in the divorce petition.
Do Couples Get Back Together in Divorce Mediation?
Divorce mediation is not marriage counseling. The purpose is not to find a solution by which the couples can live together, or at least remain married while living in separate residences. Instead, the purpose is to divide the marital property and debts in such a way that each spouse is in a financial position to start his or her post-divorce life.
Sometimes couples decide, after filing for divorce, and sometimes even after beginning mediation, that they want to stay married to each other. If that happens, the couple must file paperwork with the court to withdraw their divorce petition.
Contact Schwartz | White About Getting Over the Shock of Your Divorce
A South Florida family law attorney can help you prepare a response to your spouse’s divorce petition if you still can’t believe that you are getting divorced. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
help.flcourts.gov/Get-Started/The-Process-What-Happens-in-Court#:~:text=DEADLINE%3A%20After%20being%20served%2C%20the,claims%20contained%20in%20the%20petition.
