Question #61: A friend of mine (female) has filed for divorce, but her legal spouse will not sign the necessary papers. Her spouse has become emotionally, mentally and at times physically abusive, so she moved out. Now he is counter-suing for abandonment. Never once was a police report filed, she just wants to legally end the marriage, assets and alimony are not requested by her. Is there any way she can expedite this process? Also she is bringing the paperwork to him, should a court officer serve these papers to him? What is the time frame for him completing this process? I find it horribly wrong that in NY State, if a person wants a divorce, the other party has to agree otherwise a situation like this occurs. Thanks.

The Divorce process is much too important to leave to self help.
You should engage an experienced attorney -mediator in your area
to make sure that you have covered all of the issues and can get on with your
life without worrying that your mistakes will come back to haunt you later in life.

You do not need your spouse’s consent to divorce in NY, but the process then is adversarial,
not uncontested. If he also is filing for divorce, then apparently he wants the divorce as well and a good mediator should be able to bring the parties together to get the job done without having to spend the time and money in court litigating the divorce.

If you are living in the NYC metro area, please call me at 212-370-1660 to arrange
for an appointment to discuss the matter in greater length.

Leonard Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions