Jake Hackenburg has been separated from his wife Sally for one year. They are not legally separated just living in different homes. He recently found out, Sally filed for the divorce, and got a "default divorce". Jake never received a notice. He didn't have any clue Sally had filed for, and was granted a divorce. What does Jake do?
Sally filed for the divorce, and then served Jake the divorce at the marital home, which he didn’t live at anymore. Jake never got the divorce papers and failed to respond, which is required. How could he respond? Jake didn’t even know she had filed. After Jake failed to respond to the divorce papers, the court entered a default. The court awarded Sally everything she asked for in her documents. This is called a "default divorce".
Default divorces like this happen all the time. When a spouse files the divorce, they are required to serve the papers at the other spouse’s last known address. This is called process of service. By being personally served the divorce papers, you have been given proper notice that a divorce has been filed. The spouse being served then has 20 days to hire a lawyer and file a response.
You didn’t even know your spouse was filing a divorce? You didn’t know to respond, and they get a "default divorce", and are awarded everything. Are you out of luck?
Right Lawyers has over 15 years experience helping clients resolve "default divorces". In a recent published article, they explain what Jake Hackenburg can do to have the default set aside and to have the divorce handled fairly. Read more at https://rightlawyers.com/divorced-and-didnt-know-it/