Spouse Refuses To Sign Divorce Papers? Here’s Your Legal Options [Video Q&A]

You’ve made the difficult decision to end your marriage. While you’re ready to take the next step in the divorce process, you have found that your partner isn’t. If your spouse refuses to sign divorce papers, you might feel like you’re at a standstill. However, in New York, you can still move forward with the divorce process. Working with a seasoned divorce attorney in Webster, like Michelle Cimino, can help you overcome this roadblock.

If your spouse is holding up the process of ending your marriage, there’s still a path forward. With the support of a trusted lawyer by your side, you’ll be able to finalize your divorce.

Moving Forward When Your Spouse Refuses to Sign Divorce Papers

If your spouse refuses to end the marriage, you need to understand that New York is a no-fault state. This means that you do not need your spouse’s consent to finalize the divorce. If a spouse refuses to sign or simply ignores the papers, you can move forward with a divorce by default.

The first step is to file for divorce and make sure your spouse is properly served with the summons and complaint. This must comply with New York’s service rules. After you serve your spouse, they typically have 20 days to respond if you served them within the state. If they received notice outside the state, they will have 30 days to respond. If they do not respond within that time, a Webster attorney like Michelle Cimino can ask the court for a default judgment and a formal hearing. This allows the judge to finalize the divorce without your spouse’s participation.

If your spouse actively refuses to agree on issues relating to child custody, child support, or the division of assets, your divorce becomes contested. At this point, your divorce will likely take longer and require court appearances and possible settlement conferences.

Even though you can get divorced without your spouse’s signature, issues that must be resolved in the divorce make these cases more complex. Reaching out to an attorney experienced in New York family law, such as Michelle Cimino, can help ensure you have correctly served your spouse. When she learns about your circumstances, she can help you understand when you need to move on to a divorce by publication.

Can’t Locate Your Spouse? Here’s What You Can Do

You might feel stuck in the divorce process when you can’t locate your spouse to serve them with divorce papers. There are still ways to end your marriage.

You might want to consider seeking a divorce by publication. This is when you publish a legal notice of the divorce in an approved newspaper instead of handing papers to your spouse. This is considered constructive notice. This term refers to a situation in which the law assumes your spouse has been notified of the divorce, even if they never see the actual paperwork.

Divorce by publication is a last resort. Courts will only approve the process once you’ve shown you’ve made a diligent search to find them. To go through this route, you’ll file an affidavit demonstrating that you’ve made an effort to find your spouse. The judge will review the affidavit and sign an order allowing you to serve by publication.

You’ll publish the notice for three weeks in a newspaper that circulates where your spouse was last known to live. This notice must include basic facts about the divorce. If your spouse doesn’t respond within the designated time, the court can move forward to finalize your divorce.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Divorce Attorney in Webster

If you’re ready to move on from your marriage, but your spouse is deliberately holding up the process, you can still divorce your spouse. In the event that you can’t locate your spouse, you might want to consider the divorce by publication process. Working with an experienced divorce attorney in Webster can help you learn about your options and choose the best path forward.

Michelle Cimino has supported divorcing couples in the Webster area for almost two decades. Schedule a confidential consultation today.