Default Divorces: What To Do When It Happens To You
Have you recently been surprised by a divorce? Unfortunately, you might be a party to a major legal procedure and not even know about it. Divorce law allows a party to obtain a divorce and the other party has little to no recourse to stop it. This situation, however, can prevent the other party from asserting their rights. To find out more about default divorces and how they can impact you, read on.
The Beginnings of a Divorce
To file for divorce, one simply has to have a lawyer draw up a petition and serve it to the other party. The right way to do things is to use a service that personally presents the other party with the divorce paperwork. The receiving party then has an opportunity to review the divorce complaint and then, after consulting with a lawyer, respond to it. The complaint, however, is more than just a notification that one party wants to divorce the other. The divorce petition contains important provisions about child custody, property, debts, and more. When you respond to the initial complaint, you are also either agreeing or disagreeing with issues like child custody and property divisions.
When You Are Caught Unawares
One party has to do a diligent search to locate and inform the other party about the divorce proceedings. If the other party fails to come forward with an answer in a certain period of time, there is every possibility that a default divorce will be granted. When that happens, the filer is automatically awarded anything they asked for in the divorce. Unfortunately, the filing party may not have made a diligent effort to inform the respondent of the upcoming divorce and they might not find out about it until it's too late. To be granted a default divorce, the filing party has to show that they tried to make contact with you.
Taking Action to Fight Against a Default Divorce
You cannot just ignore a divorce petition when it comes your way. Things will still proceed and you might end up with a bad deal if you don't participate in the process. If you were never contacted, however, and the other party failed to carry out an adequate search, you may have some legal recourse. Speak to a family law attorney as soon as you can, whether the divorce is already final or not. The sooner you act, the easier it will be to have the divorce invalidated. To find out more, speak to a divorce lawyer as soon as you suspect you have been divorced without your knowledge.
Reach out to a family lawyer today for more information.
Share