What If Spouse Won’t Agree To Divorce | Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

What If Spouse Won’t Agree To Divorce | Santa Clarita

Hi! My name is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist. I’m a licensed and bonded legal document preparation assistant that specialize only in divorce.

Today we are talking about and answering the question of what happens if my wife doesn’t want to give me a divorce.

So, if your spouse doesn’t want to cooperate, there is a way to still work on the divorce process and I’m going to use the California Court’s website to answer this question because in their Frequently Asked Questions here, they have responded to this question – so instead of just me giving you what I think, I’m going to refer you to into the court’s website as they answered the question here for.

So the question here is ‘What if my spouse or domestic partner does not want to give me a divorce?’.

And the answer is: In California, it is not necessary for both spouses or domestic partners to agree to the divorce. Either spouse or domestic partner can decide and their marriage and partnership is not necessary for the other spouse to agree or give you a divorce.

The spouse or domestic partner who does not want to get divorced cannot stop the process by refusing to participate in the case. If she did not have to sign anything to agree to the divorce, if your spouse or domestic partner does not participate in the divorce case, you’ll still be able to get a default judgment and the divorce will go through.

So, sometimes when I’m preparing uncontested divorce cases, one of the parties that I may be assisting will ask: “Well Tim, she’s not going to fill it out any of the paperwork, she’s not going to respond and she honestly doesn’t care one way or the other and I said: “That’s fine, there’s nothing the spouse can do to stop you from getting divorced”. As this court says here, they can’t stop it even if they don’t participate. It’s called a default judgment.

I’ve done a video on what it takes to get a default judgment and that happens all the time. Generally, courts will approve those if there’s an unequal division of assets and debts. There might be a reason for the court to call you in and have a couple of questions for you. But if your spouse doesn’t want to respond and they don’t want to participate, you can get what’s called a default judgment.

Again, my name is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist, licensed and bonded legal document preparation service, specializing in the divorce process.

Does It Matter Who Files For Divorce First | Santa Clarita Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Does It Matter Who Files For Divorce First | Santa Clarita Divorce

Hi! This is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist. I’m a licensed and bonded legal document assistant specializing in the divorce process in California.

Today we’re answering the question “Does it matter if I file for divorce first or is there a disadvantage to my spouse filing for divorce and me being the respondent?”.

I get that question all the time, parties calling me saying “oh I think my wife is going to file for divorce, should I file first? Is there any advantage?”

Here is the video where I explain if it matters who files for divorce first.

So, because I’m not an attorney I cannot technically give you legal advice but I can point you in the right direction of where to find this information. So what I will do is direct you to the court’s website and they’ve answered the question here for us.

What it says here is ‘Am I at a disadvantage if my spouse or domestic partner files for divorce first?’

  1. Normally, it does not matter who is the first to file the divorce papers. The court does not give any preference to the first person to file (the petitioner), or any disadvantage to the person who is the respondent.

So, there you have it folks. It doesn’t matter if you file it first. In fact, I had this question just come up yesterday— one of the spouses called me and he was getting ready to file and he said that he’s advised by his spouse that his is going to run out and file first and I said “That’s fine, let her do it”. According to the courts, they don’t give a preference either way.

The paperwork is going to be the same. You’ll just be the respondent instead of the petitioner.

Again, this is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist.  We are headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA and serve all the courts in California.

We provide affordable divorce document preparation services. We can get you all the way through the divorce process at an affordable price.