People sometimes worry that their spouse is going to be able to stop them from getting a divorce. In some cases, this is because they’ve brought the topic up and their spouse has informed them that they won’t agree to it. In other cases, these individuals just assumed that they both need to agree to the divorce since they both agreed to get married.
It’s important to understand that this is completely a myth. There’s nothing your spouse can do to stop you from getting a divorce if you want to file for divorce. They can suggest things like going to counseling or using a trial separation to see if it brings the two of you back together. But they can’t force you to do any of these things and they certainly can’t make it impossible for you to get a divorce just because they don’t want one.
So what happens if they don’t cooperate?
Say that your spouse refuses to cooperate, they won’t sign the divorce papers and they won’t come to any of the court dates. They think that will prevent you from getting a divorce because you need them to be there to do so.
The truth is that you do not need them to be there at all. You do have to give them a certain amount of time to respond to the paperwork, so you can’t simply rush through a divorce without them. But if they miss those deadlines and refused to come in, then the court can simply rule that you are granted the divorce you wanted anyway.
All that being said, your divorce may be more complicated if your spouse won’t cooperate, so take the time to consider your legal options carefully.
