My spouse wants a divorce and I have no idea what to think or do. What should I think or do? Few things in life are more potentially emotional, overwhelming or disappointing than being asked for a divorce. We can share a hopeful fact: of those that contact us to discuss a divorce almost 10% reconcile with their spouse and do not complete the process. The first step is to simply take a deep breath.
If your spouse really wants to bring your marriage to conclusion you can probably delay it but in the end you probably won’t be able to stop it. Your spouse will ultimately be granted a divorce, even above your strong objections.
If you have been surprised with the service of a summons and a petition for a dissolution of marriage, in other words served with divorce papers, the answer is straight forward: you must respond. If you fail to respond to the petition your spouse can request an “Entry of Default” after 30 days and will be in all likelihood be granted every request regarding child custody, maintenance, child support, the division of marital property and retirement requested in their petition. You have 30 days to respond. You need the sound advice and counsel of the experienced, proven Divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd.
You need to know how things are going to work and begin to accumulate the important information necessary to protect your own interests. If you have children you are sure to have goals regarding your rights as a parent and how to make sure you accomplish them during the child custody and visitation portion of the process. Generally speaking, all debts and assets obtained by either or both parties from the date of the marriage to the date of separation will be characterized as marital property (with few exceptions). Marital property is generally divided fairly equally.
If your spouse wants a divorce you will need time to process all of your feelings and emotions. However, the reality is you may have as few as 30 days to organize yourself, develop a strategy, respond and begin to prepare for the road ahead. We can and will help.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
