Friday, January 14, 2011

CAN I OBTAIN A DIVORCE WITHOUT MY SPOUSE'S SIGNATURE?

DONALD F. CONVISER, a Certified Family Law Specalist, owner of Warner Center Law Offices in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley, an effective and aggressive Family Law and Divorce Attorney serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years, offering a free confidential consultation regarding your divorce or family law issues, at 818/880-8990, brings you another informative and educational blog, responding to questions posed to him about Divorce and Family Law.

I frequently receive questions from people regarding their family law issues. The following is a question which the inquirer agreed may be publicly revealed, and my answer to the question:

QUESTION: Can I obtain a divorce from my spouse without her signature?

ANSWER: Yes.

You don't need your wife's signature to have her personally served by a process server. A party is not allowed to serve documents in his/her own case, so somebody else, at least 18 years old, must personally serve her, and that person must complete and sign a Proof of Personal Service, to be filed with the Court.

However, if you try to have your wife served via Notice and Acknowledgment, she would have to sign the Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt and return it to you, in order for service to be completed. If you fear that she won't cooperate, it would be best to have her personally served.

If your wife fails to respond to the Petition within 30 days after she was served, you can seek to take her default, but you need to comply with the requirements set forth on the Judicial Council FL-165 Form (Request to Enter Default) to seek to have her default entered, and you need to have her served with your Preliminary and Final Declarations of Disclosure before you can seek a Default hearing to have the Court hear the Divorce case and render a Divorce Judgment.

If your wife responds to the Petition, she will need to sign her Response for it to be acceptable to the Court for filing. If she responds to the Petition before the Court enters her default, the case cannot proceed by way of default.

You would best be served by retaining a Family Law Attorney to represent you in your divorce.

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