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.
