I don't want to get divorced. Can I just ignore the papers?

If your husband or wife wants to divorce you, while you can cause them delay, frustration and additional expense eventually, they will succeed.  You also need to be mindful of the fact that they could pass those additional costs onto you if they are successful in obtaining a costs order against you.  

The first step in obtaining a divorce for your husband or wife is issuing a divorce petition with the court. They then have to prove to the court that you have received a copy. If you return the acknowledgement of service form to the court this is the proof that they rely upon.They can then apply for Decree Nisi and 6 weeks and 1 day after that they can apply for the final decree which is Decree Absolute (although they are likely to wait to apply until the financial aspects of the divorce have been dealt with). 

If you don’t return the acknowledgement of service form to the court, they will have to resort to other methods to prove that you have received the petition.  

It is likely that they would arrange to have you personally served. This would mean that the papers would be personally delivered to you and the person carrying out the service would sign a statement confirming that you had received them. This statement would then be used by your husband or wife to persuade the court that you had received the papers.  

Alternatively if they have other evidence that you have received the petition they could apply for deemed service which is an order from the court confirming that you have been deemed to have received the papers.  

Whichever option they go for it is likely that, in the end, they would be successful in obtaining a divorce. Our advice would be to seek advice regarding your options from a local solicitor at an early stage to avoid the pitfalls that are associated with ignoring the proceedings.  

George Green’s Specialist family and Divorce lawyers give advice regularly on divorce and the financial aspects of divorce. If you wish to discuss your matter please Jane Williams on 01384 340 528 (jwilliams@georgegreen.co.uk at our Cradley Heath office. We represent clients from the West Midlands and beyond including Dudley, Stourbridge, Cradley Heath and Wolverhampton.