I don't know the answer. If someone can help me; my husband is in jail getting ready to go to prison for beating me. It was bad he knocked out top teeth made few loose tooth went threw my lip this happened at a domestic shelter. I was down town walked home and forgot to lock my door. He came right on in. I told him to leave, a few words exchanged and he started punching me.
I went to the jail to see if he would sign the divorce papers. He refused. I don't know what to do now cause I don't want him anymore. If I stayed I would be dead. He would probably kill me. I have kids, family and friends to be here for. Any advice would be nice.
I had one like that a long time ago so I waited about 6 months (I had moved away 3 states) he wouldn't give me a divorce and said he would fight it and he made good money, he just liked to beat on me, so I waited. One day I sat down and wrote the stupidest love letter and told him I was on my way home if he would just help me with the fare. Within a week the man came to my office where I worked grinned and said I have a Christmas gift for you a little early, all the paper work needed was done and in 3 weeks was final and he signed and paid.
Seeing that none of us knows your reason for wanting a divorce (and to be honest, it really is none of our business), if you don't already have a lawyer then I would suggest getting one. Some will charge their fees on a sliding scale basis, depending on your income.
Maybe it's a good thing he won't sign. People should think long and hard before ending a marriage. It's not a casual thing to do. It can utterly destroy children, and they must come first. They didn't ask to be born. There's too much me, me, me! going on and people like me are left to try to mend the broken hearts of little children. Children never 'get over' a divorce, and more child abuse is caused by step-parents and lovers than any other source. Talk to your priest or minister before taking this step. That advice is free!
It took me almost 14 years to get divorced from my ex-husband. I wanted to finally get re-married. I tried and tried for years to get him to divorce but could not keep track of him. He would move from place to place would not keep a job or if he had one would quit in fear of being fond and made to pay child support for our son.
Finally I had to get a lawyer and pay more then 3000.00 and tell him once we got a P.I to find him that if he did not come here to court that a cop would pick him up bring him here and hold in jail until court and then he would lose his job cause I would keep postponing it as long as I could to keep him there, or he could just sign the papers and not worry about coming up here. That is how I got it. It did take almost 14 years though. There is not much you can do if they do not want to sign. Unless you have a lot of money to pay out to force them to.
In SD, legal aid will only help in certain types of cases, and I don't think divorce is one of them. Also where I live, paralegals work for attorneys. I would assume each of you have your own attorney, they should know what to do. What is your rush, give it due time, don't act like you are in a big hurry. He'll give in eventually, and as long as you aren't living together you are actually rid of him.
I have been divorced since 1983 and my ex and I get along much better living apart than we did when we were married. We can actually have civilized conversations, but it didn't happen overnight. He filed for divorce, but I got the best settlement when it came to dividing our property and the proceeds from selling our house. When we talk now, he no longer is verbally abusive, doesn't swear at me, etc.
You can still get a divorce, but if your spouse won't agree to it, the divorce will usually cost you much more because of higher lawyer fees. If your spouse is in the military & won't sign the papers then you can't divorce them, but otherwise no trouble. Each state has it's own laws, contact a divorce lawyer. If you can't afford one, go to a paralegal or legal aid. I recommend a good paralegal. A paralegal costs about a quarter (or less) of the price of a lawyer & my paralegal really knew the ins & outs of divorce paperwork & she did an AMAZING job!
If you have kids & want custody here is a hint for you: If you have Physical Custody of the kids, then you usually are granted Temporary Custody & if you have Temporary custody then the odds are higher that you will end up with permanent custody.... So if you want your kids then be sure to have physical custody of them (have them staying with you) BEFORE you file the divorce paperwork.
When I was divorced many years ago, my ex simply wouldn't sign the papers no matter what. He did this simply to "give me grief" & I suspect that this is what is happening to you... SO, if you pretend for a while that you couldn't care less about the divorce paper work, then the odds are you'll have less trouble getting the paperwork signed. It's all about control!
But until your divorce or separation paperwork goes through, don't buy anything big because if you do buy a house, car or anything like that while you are still married then you spouse owns half of it! ..
---> There is a lot of good advice at the bottom of this page. Read all the way down & you will learn alot in good info from other ThriftyFun people.
Depending on what state you live in. In Oregon the spouse doesn't have to sign papers, but it takes longer to get the decree. Call Legal Aid and they could tell you for sure. You can buy and file the papers yourself and without an attorney since there is no property and no children. Good luck.
I have been separated for 14 years and the other party won't sign the divorce papers. They are now no longer any good. I live in Pennsylvania and he is in Maryland. What do I do? I want to remarry. We have filed all of the papers in the state that we were married in and put them through the clerk. She said that because I didn't request a master's hearing I was still married. That was the only time the other party signed the papers.
By Victoria
If you've lived in Pennsylvania for at least 6 months, you can file for divorce in that state. If the other party doesn't sign the papers, you can probably still get an uncontested divorce - especially if he doesn't file papers to contest it or appear in court.
I don't know the laws there,if this is required- but if you have his address, you should probably have him served by a process server. This proves he got the papers & knows you filed for divorce, that way he can't say he didn't know.
If you don't have his address, but know what city he's in - some states allow for you to post it in the paper for a certain number of days, then proceed with the dicorce. That shows that you made an effort to notify him.
More than anything, you really need to get some legal advice on this issue, it sounds like you've been getting bad legal advice. Here are links to 2 websites that can help you. The 1st answers some of your questions & gives yo links to other sites. The other link is for Legal Aid in PN, they offer free or pro-rated legal help.
http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=195&state_code=PA
http://www.palegalaid.net/
I've been separated for 12 years. Our son has quit school and will be 18 in two months. I want to remarry and she won't sign any kind of divorce papers. How can I move on with my life with her trying to hang on to me?
By Brian
Brian, I don't know where you live, but here after several attempts for the other half to sign divorce papers and they refuse it is granted any way. I had a friend whose parents went through this years ago. The wife would not sign, so after several attempts her lawyer told her she just as well sign them because he would get the divorce any way. Talk with your lawyer something can be done!
How long will a lawyer keep papers on file once I have paid, but my husband won't sign? Will the papers stay there until he does sign?
By Mistie H. from Carrollton, GA
Stand up for yourself and tell your attorney to do his/her job that you paid for! He/she knows how to get the job done and is taking advantage by not finishing the job!
My husband won't consent to a divorce. We have been separated for 6 months. I have moved on because of his cheating, he doesn't want a divorce and won't stop seeing the other woman. What can I do? The divorce legal costs are more than I can afford. I don't want to lose my kids or the home we own.
Princess from Kitwe
By CndyHnt
By cookwie
http://bifurcated.tripod.com/
What is a Bifurcation?
It can take many months, even several years, for a dissolution to wind its way through the courts. Faced with this fact, many spouses want to terminate the marriage quickly, even if the other issues in the case have not been settled. There might also be situations in which it makes sense to have a separate trial of a particular issue.
In both of those situations, the court will order that the trial is to be bifurcated. This means either that the marital status is terminated and the parties are restored to their single status or a separate trial is to be held concerning a specific issue.
I'm so sorry you have to go through this! (06/30/2005)
I had indicated in a previous posting that there is free legal aid for you. Search and you will find it. Call your local library and see if their reference dept. can give you suggestions. Call City Hall. Call everyone you can think of until you get an answer. Call your county's Bar Association. Call any lawyer in the phone book and ask the secretary for info. (06/30/2005)
By cookwie
I want to divorce my abusive wife, but I know she won't sign the papers. We have no children, own no property, and each have our own cars. What type of divorce do I need? Do I need a lawyer?
By Perry from Los Angeles, CA
By Suntydt
By kffrmw88
By dajavooi
By Beth
I know there must be ways to get a divorce without a signature (it just might take an extra step or two and take longer) and, if the law remains the same in California, it can be done by simply posting a certain way in the legal notice section of your local newspaper for a certain amount of weeks and then filing the proper paperwork.
Lawyers are going to try to suck everything they can out of you so try researching on your own first (after consultations to pick their brains), but I am pretty sure you can do it on your own. Get court papers from the court you want to file and do some online searches for info too. Here's a link to start:
divorcesupport.com (11/19/2009)
By Deeli
By Teresa Kay
By TXBetty
By JustPlainJo
By Deeli
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