Contested Divorce Lawyer
According to Forbes, more than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. No matter how common, divorces are often an emotionally trying time, even if both spouses can cooperate while agreeing on who gets what. What can make this process even more difficult, however, is if your soon-to-be ex spouse is refusing to sign divorce papers, explains a contested divorce lawyer from a law firm like AttorneyBernie.Com. Here is what you can do if you find yourself in this situation.
Determine Your Spouse’s Reasoning
There are a plethora of reasons why your spouse may be refusing to sign divorce papers. Maybe your spouse is hoping to save the marriage. Maybe he or she simply wants to make life more difficult for you. Maybe this is a tactic to try and acquire more assets. Figuring out what his or her “why” is will help you determine how to proceed.
One especially painstaking reason why your spouse may be refusing to sign divorce papers is because he or she does not want to give up custody of your shared children. If they are holding out on signing, he or she may believe that you will eventually cave and give up custody just to move the process forward. Do not fall for this tactic. Contact your contested divorce lawyer on what you should do next.
Obtain a Contested Divorce
If little progress has been made after having a conversation with your spouse about why he or she is refusing to sign papers, it may be time to file a contested divorce. An uncontested divorce is smoother and often preferable but not always feasible depending on your situation.
A contested divorce occurs when spouses cannot come to mutual agreements about the issues of their divorce, and therefore a judge makes the decisions for the couple. This means you are serving your spouse with divorce papers. Either a private process server or a sheriff will physically serve the papers to the spouse being divorced. To file a contested divorce, you must file a petition in a family court in the jurisdiction you wish to get divorced.
If you are filing a divorce under fault grounds, you can file a contested divorce without having your spouse sign. This means that based on your spouse’s actions during the marriage, you may be expecting to get a larger portion of your shared assets.
If you are pursuing a divorce and your spouse is refusing to sign papers, contact a contested divorce lawyer in your jurisdiction today who can walk you through the process that best fits your situation.