A Default Divorce Takes Power Away From The Unresponsive Spouse ?

Some spouses involved in a marital dissolution mistakenly believe that if they choose not to sign their court forms or opt to disappear altogether, the other spouse won't be able to get a divorce as a result and the two will remain married for the long haul.


Luckily for the spouse who does the filing for divorce, the family law court has recognized that this particular scenario occurs quite often.

And, there is even a name for it.

The term that describes this divorce situation is coined the "default divorce."
As such, a law has been implemented to allow the divorce process to continue regardless if the opposing spouse makes the choice to ignore the paperwork that has been served upon him or her.


A law as strict as they come, the divorce court and presiding divorce judge will penalize an unresponsive spouse by taking away his or her privileges during divorce.

What does this mean for the uncooperative party?
The spouse who opened up the divorce case will receive everything he or she has asked for when it comes to aspects such as property division, child support and/or spousal support amounts, and custody and visitation schedules for any minor children born of the marriage.

Meanwhile, the court views a lack of response as that spouse's way of saying he or she does not care how the dissolution proceeds.

The phrase "be careful what you wish for" fits amply into the mix at this juncture.
By not providing a response, the indifferent spouse is given exactly what he or she has requested - absolutely no further rights or participation in the case, and the subsequent inability to make any kind of marital decision thereafter before the final judgment for divorce is granted by the judge.

However, it is important to note that a default divorce is not as simple as one spouse choosing to become scarce or not to sign the papers, and the other spouse receiving all that is asked for as a result.

Although the family law courts have come up with the default method to allow divorces to become final regardless of an unresponsive opposing party, there are still many steps the petitioning spouse must take before the default judgment is granted.

For example, the spouse who originally filed the case has to show proof to the court that an attempt was made to get in touch with the other party.

This is done by publishing an ad containing a copy of the divorce summons. The publishing is done in the local paper belonging to the city where the contemptuous party was last known to have resided.
But before the ad goes to print, an application for permission to publish it must first be filed with the court.
Known as an ex parte application and filed without notice to the other party (hence the name 'ex parte,'), the "Ex Parte Application For Publication Of Summons" form makes the court aware that the petitioning spouse is planning on using this method to try and get in contact with the other party and alert him or her to the court action at hand.


Filed along with the Ex Parte Application For Publication Of Summons is the "Declaration In Support Thereof" and the "Order For Publication Of Summons."

When these documents have been approved by the judge, the petitioning spouse can then go ahead with publication of the ad containing the divorce summons.

The ad must run for four consecutive weeks, with a period of at least five days between each publication, to give the responding party plenty of notice that he or she is being sued for divorce.

And if that spouse still ignores the pending court action, the petitioning spouse can then move forward in obtaining a default judgment.

What else is involved in the process of obtaining a default divorce judgment?
In a normal divorce proceeding where each party will sign the documents, the next step would be to sign and notarize the Marital Settlement Agreement.