If your spouse files for divorce, you should be served a divorce petition. There are a few ways that they can do this, such as serving you through publication, hiring someone to serve you or simply serving you the papers themselves.
After they do so, the paperwork will inform you of the deadline by which you have to respond to that petition. The court is waiting for your response so that they can schedule the initial hearings and other important steps. In Illinois, you get 30 days.
But what happens if you don’t respond? Say that you do not want to get divorced and you think that your spouse will drop it if you simply refuse to cooperate. Is this an effective way to prevent divorce?
Your spouse can still get a divorce
No, this is not a good tactic and will likely only make your divorce more complex. It can also make the process more contentious, and you may have less control over the outcome.
The reason for this is that your spouse doesn’t actually need you to get divorced. Once you miss the response deadline of 30 days, the court can issue a default divorce.
Traditionally, you and your spouse would debate how to split up custody and assets, and the court would make sure that things were done according to state law. But in a default divorce, the court can simply rule without your input. In this sense, ignoring the divorce petition is actually going to make the outcome worse for you than if you responded immediately.
The legal process
This type of divorce can be contentious and complicated. Take the time to carefully look into your legal options.