A default divorce can be used by the court, essentially ruling that the divorce is being granted even though only one person is present in court. As a general rule, the court will then “default” to that person’s preferences. There won’t be a debate over how to divide assets or split up child custody, for instance, because only one parent is even involved in the process.
This is relatively uncommon, and it is certainly not optimal. Both parents should be involved. But there are some reasons why a default divorce has to be used by the court. Below are two examples.
Spouse can’t be located
First of all, there are some cases where the person who wants to get divorced can’t locate their spouse. Maybe they claim that their spouse abandoned the family years ago. Maybe they’ve been estranged. Perhaps their spouse is having some sort of mental episode. For whatever reason, they can’t find their spouse to serve them the divorce petition, but they still want to have the legal ability to end the marriage.
Spouse will not cooperate
In other cases, it’s just that the spouse will not cooperate with the divorce process. Maybe they don’t want to get divorced. They think that by refusing to sign the divorce petition, they can prevent that outcome. But the reality is that the court will just wait for the deadline to pass and then move forward with a default divorce.
You can see how complicated divorce may become. If you’re going through this process, be sure you understand what legal options you have.