What if your spouse won’t agree to a divorce?

In a typical Pennsylvania divorce, the spouses agree to go their separate ways, but there are cases in which one spouse objects to the divorce or does not cooperate with the process. If this happens in your divorce, you do have options that will allow you to dissolve the marriage with or without your spouse’s consent.

Before we explore those options, first we will briefly address no-fault divorce.

Divorce by mutual consent

In Pennsylvania, no-fault divorce is known as “divorce by mutual consent.” In this process, one party files a complaint with the court, and the court gives them a 90-day waiting period. At the end of that time, each spouse files a statement saying that the marriage is irretrievably broken and they would like the court to grant a divorce.

In such a case, the court typically grants the request. It may not even require a hearing.

If one spouse won’t agree

If your spouse does not agree that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or just doesn’t sign their paperwork, the court may grant you a divorce without your spouse’s consent under certain conditions:

1. Domestic violence: If your spouse has been convicted of committing domestic violence against you, the court can grant the divorce without your spouse’s official consent.
2. Fault: The court may grant you a divorce without your spouse’s consent if you prove abandonment, adultery, bigamy, cruelty or another one of the recognized grounds for divorce.
3. Institutionalization: If your spouse has been confined to a mental institution due to insanity or other mental condition for 18 months or more, the court may grant your divorce without their consent.
4. Living apart: If you and your spouse have lived apart for at least a year, and your spouse refuses to agree to the divorce, the court can determine that the marriage is irretrievably broken. This means the court determines there is no reasonable possibility that the spouses will get back together. If, however, the court thinks there is a chance, it can order you and your spouse to go to counseling for up to 120 days. At the end of that time, if either or both of you still want a divorce, the court can grant the divorce.

As you can see, each of these options is more time-consuming and difficult than a marriage by mutual consent. Because they take more paperwork and court time, they can also be more expensive.

However, in some cases, these are the only options available to a person who needs to end their marriage and get on with their lives.