There is a huge misunderstanding about a part of the divorce process that I want to clear up. This is in regards to the California Divorce Petition and the requests you make.
The Petition is a form you will complete when you file for divorce. It lets the court and the other party know what your are requesting. Again, it simply tells the court what you are requesting. They are not orders.
An issue we have been having is when we mail the Petition to the other party and ask them to sign a form acknowledging that they received the Petition. Doing this helps us to avoid having to hire a process server. When you sign the acknowledgment, it simply means that you received that divorce papers, not that you agree to the what is in the Petition or remainder of the divorce papers.
We recently mailed out some divorce papers to the respondent in a divorce case. After the Respondent received the papers, he called the Petitioner and said he is not signing the papers because he does not agree with what the Petitioner is asking for.
So what are the options when this happens. Well, the first thing you can do is attempt to explain it to them. But it is unlikely that your spouse will listen to you since you are going through a divorce in the first place, but you can try.
The next thing I would try to do is have them get the answer from someone who is not involved. Have them go to the court and ask the self help center if signing the acknowledgement of receipt means that you agree with what is in the petition.
If none of these work, then you will simply have to hire a process server to do it. And again, just because the process server hands them paperwork does not mean they agree with what is in the petition either.
