When one person wants to marry another, it starts with a question. They ask them if they would like to get married, and the other person then gets to decide if they want to or not. Eventually, if they decide to, they have a legal ceremony where they both sign the paperwork.
But does the same thing happen with divorce? When you go to your spouse and ask them for a divorce, and you give them the new paperwork that they need to sign, can they say no? Can they refuse?
The divorce is always possible.
Your spouse certainly can say that they don’t want to sign the papers or try to talk you out of getting a divorce. In fact, they can’t even refuse to sign those papers or fail to acknowledge that they ever received them. They can miss all of the deadlines given by the court for when they need to turn the paperwork back in and start the process.
However, doing this is not going to stop you from getting divorced. It’s always possible. If your spouse is not cooperating, or you can’t even find them to give them the paperwork, then the court can issue a default divorce.
This is often used in situations where someone can’t locate their spouse. The two individuals have become estranged over the years, and they may not even feel like they’ve been married for a long time. But they still technically are, and one spouse may need to end that marriage before they can marry someone else or for other reasons.
But it’s also possible to use this tactic if your spouse just refuses to cooperate with you. Make sure you know about all the legal steps you can take.