Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

my husband paid a lawyer who filed divorce papers for him on august 3rd 2010. i was served on august 29th and papers state i have 20days to respond.problem is i dont have the money ($255) to file my response which was going to be a petition for conciliation counseling plus he moved back in and we decided to try again.we have been married 16+years.now my question is if we do nothing now with papers even though his have been filed with the court what happens? will divorce still happen or not? he plans to do nothing since he already paid a lawyer $1500.....saying so we just get divorced who cares just a piece of paper.obviously its more than that so now i'm a little worried.don't want to be divorced.i don't consider that working things out.if we will still be divorced i don't want to stay with him and have to file my response by tomorrow. i just need to know if divorce will still go through if both him and i make no more contact with court and/or his lawyer?


Asked on 9/08/10, 5:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Monica Donaldson Stewart Donaldson Stewart, P.C.

If you take no action, the divorce may proceed by default. If he/his lawyer wish to pursue this course of action, they must send you a Application/Affidavit for Default after the expiration of the 20 days, and you then have 10 days within which to file your Response. At this point, you have several options:

1) Ask your husband to withdraw or dismiss the divorce;

2) File a Response to the Petition, even if it is only to make sure your divorce does not proceed by default. If you cannot afford the filing fee, you can complete an application for deferral of the fee at the courthouse. If the application is approved, you will be permitted to file your Response and you will be given a payment plan for the filing fee.

3) Do nothing. If your husband also does nothing, the case will eventually get dismissed on its own; however, if your husband moves forward with the default, you will either end up having to file a Response or risk having a default entered against you (meaning the divorce will be granted consistent with the terms requested in the Petition).

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Answered on 9/13/10, 5:18 pm


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