You decide that it is time to file for divorce. Unfortunately, your spouse is not very cooperative. They have long told you that they are against divorce and even insinuated that they refuse to get divorced.
As a result, they do not respond to the divorce papers. Maybe they tell you that they are not going to. Maybe they just ignore the documentation entirely. Perhaps they even think that you cannot get a divorce without their cooperation, so they believe that ignoring the paperwork is going to prevent the divorce.
Getting a default divorce ruling
The first thing that you should know is that your spouse cannot trap you in the marriage by refusing to cooperate. They cannot refuse to get divorced.
If they will not respond to the paperwork, the court can still issue a default divorce ruling. This means that they are dissolving your marriage and finalizing the divorce without your spouse’s input.
This can delay the process. In Indiana, a person has 20 days to respond to a divorce petition. So you do still have to wait the full 20 days. Even if your spouse tells you on day one that they are not going to respond, you must give them this legally allotted amount of time to do so.
But if the 20 days are up and they still have not responded, you can simply get divorced on your own. You do not have to stay married, so they have only delayed the divorce, rather than preventing it.
The legal process
That said, this type of divorce can be a bit complicated. It is important for you to know exactly what steps to take as you work through the legal process.