The first step toward commencing a divorce is to serve a Summons and Petition on your spouse, alerting them of your intention. Generally, a divorce cannot move forward until service of process has been achieved.
The Summons also provides your spouse with the opportunity to respond to the Petition. For someone in Minnesota, the current response period is 30 days. In Wisconsin, it is 20 days. Extensions of time are common, if requested.
The response is a statement whereby your spouse either “agrees” or “disagrees” with each individual allegation you have made in your Petition. Your spouse can also serve a counter-petition, making their own list of demands.
What your spouse cannot do is respond with an objection to the divorce that would prevent the divorce from happening. This is true, even if your spouse refuses to respond.
Occasionally, a spouse will not respond if they want to be difficult or if they simply cannot be located. So long as you can show that the Summons and Petition were served, or that you have made a good-faith effort to serve them, the court may move forward with a default divorce.
Want more information? Contact Sjoberg & Tebelius today.