If your divorce was not officially finalized, getting the help of a divorce lawyer may be your best way forward. The legal implications of unfinished divorce in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, can be risky and unexpected. A lawyer can offer guidance and assistance, whether the reason behind the stall is an unresponsive spouse, inertia, failed attempts at reconciliation, court battles, or something else.
Call Erlich Law at 630-538-5331 for guidance on steps forward.
Understanding the Legal Status of an Unfinalized Divorce
In Illinois, the law does not recognize divorces until judges issue the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. If this issuance has not yet occurred, the spouses still are legally married, and the law takes precedence over informal separations or agreements. Formal agreements such as court-approved, official legal separations are another matter.
- With pending divorces and informal agreements, you may still have rights to property acquired during the marriage, obligations regarding debt your spouse incurred, and rights to spousal support.
- If your spouse dies, you may have inheritance rights unless there is a valid will saying otherwise.
- You and your spouse may have the right to make medical or financial decisions for each other.
Legal separation is not the same as an unfinalized divorce. If spouses have court-approved legal separation in Illinois, they remain legally married but under an official agreement outlining financial responsibilities, property division, child-related matters, and other issues. Legal separations offer clear boundaries, although a couple with a legal separation must file a separate petition for dissolution of marriage if the spouses wish to go on with a full divorce.
What Happens When a Divorce Is Not Finalized?
Illinois has 1.5 divorces per 1,000 people, a figure that does not include situations where the spouses are not together in virtually any aspect of life but remain married on paper. Many things can happen when a divorce was not officially finalized in Oakbrook Terrace.
The couple might choose to reconcile. The spouses could do so by dismissing the divorce case. If the attempt or attempts to get back together fail, the spouses can restart the legal divorce process. Alternatively, delays such as missing paperwork or failing to meet requirements could continue to delay the divorce being finalized.
If a spouse is unresponsive or evading service, the divorce might continue to stall unless the other spouse requests a default judgment. In these cases, the court could grant the divorce, after 30 days of additional waiting, on the petitioning spouse’s terms as long as the spouse followed legal procedures. The petitioning spouse does need to support claims he or she makes about custody, property division, spousal support, and other requests being equitable and legal.
Some people do not finalize their divorces due to financial reasons or motivation. Maybe they get along OK and things just kept coming up, and they never filed paperwork or never finalized paperwork. Time can pass quickly, and out of “inertia,” they are still married legally to someone they have not seen or spoken to in years.
Legal Implications
Financial ties remain if you are still married. Your assets and debts could still be marital property, which complicates financial planning and future asset division. When you file taxes, your filing status might not line up with your circumstances in reality and have profound tax implications.
Living with a new person could have implications, as well, especially if a spouse you have not seen or spoken to for years is still officially your spouse on paper. This could end up hurting the newer person in your life in many ways such as wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations.
When to Consult a Divorce Lawyer for Guidance in Oakbrook Terrace
Divorce lawyer assistance can be invaluable when a divorce is not finalized officially yet, regardless of the reason behind the delay. A lawyer should be able to get the divorce official.
Otherwise, remaining married legally could mean your spouse makes medical decisions on your behalf that you would not have wanted to be made, or that if you die, your spouse gets your assets against your true wishes. Talk with your lawyer about how to protect yourself and your wishes legally if you have an uncooperative spouse delaying divorce or fighting the divorce in court.
Uncontested Divorces
It is true that inertia is responsible for many an unfinalized divorce process. Fortunately, divorce does not always have to be a huge, stressful procedure when both spouses have lived separately for years, have their own lives, and are agreeable to finalizing a divorce. These would typically be uncontested divorces, and people do not really have to go to court for uncontested divorce in Oakbrook Terrace. Your lawyer usually can handle required court hearings or appearances.
How much an uncontested divorce costs varies depending on the situation, but lawyers often handle them for flat fees based on their anticipated complexity. You might spend just a few hundred dollars or a couple of thousand dollars in exchange for peace of mind and the ability to move forward.
When you hire an uncontested divorce lawyer, be upfront about your situation. For instance, if you do not know where your spouse is, explain that. Ask about the lawyer’s experience handling divorces that are not final yet and that fit your situation, perhaps like living separately for years but never getting around to finalizing.
However, you may still have issues such as child support and property division to consider. Your lawyer can work with the other side to negotiate or mediate these issues to keep the divorce as peaceful as possible. You and your spouse may have kept to informal agreements over the months or years on these issues, but keeping them informal, even if you finalize a divorce, is risky. Formalizing child or spousal support obligations and parenting plans/custody issues is important and protects yourself legally by making them enforceable.
Unresponsive Spouse
Uncooperative or unresponsive spouses can hold up a divorce process by dodging servers or just being plain tough to find. With a lawyer’s assistance, though, it should be possible to move on with finalizing a divorce, even if it is from someone who is nowhere to be found.
For example, if a process server cannot find the spouse and there is documentation of multiple efforts being made, a lawyer can kick-start the process of alternative service methods, such as service by publication. A lawyer can also set the groundwork for default judgment in favor of the filing spouse if the unresponsive spouse fails to respond to divorce paperwork in the required time. The divorce can proceed without the other spouse’s participation, and your lawyer makes sure what you are asking for is sound, equitable, and likely to meet with court approval.
Ultimately, an unresponsive spouse can slow down the process but cannot stop a divorce from being finalized.
Domestic Violence, Abuse, or Similar Situations
Sometimes, people do not get divorces out of fear. They have fled bad situations and have no desire to engage with their spouse again, even if that means remaining legally married.
A divorce lawyer can help in several ways, for example, getting orders of protection and handling the case from start to end to reduce or eliminate any need for interaction between the spouses. You can file for divorce without knowing your spouse’s location and while protecting your own whereabouts and those of your children. Courts themselves may also expedite divorces made for these reasons.
Contested Divorces
What if fighting is the reason your divorce was not officially finalized? Contested divorces present their own nuances. Some divorce battles can drag on for months or years. Sometimes, one spouse keeps finding ways to fight or delay the process, or uses multiple methods to keep the divorce from being final.
If your divorce does not yet have lawyer involvement, talk to one as soon as possible about your options. Tips for how to choose the right family law attorney for your case include sharing your goals and priorities with the lawyer and asking about his or her experience in contested divorces, especially those that have gone on for a long time.
If your divorce has dragged on excessively long with lawyer involvement, it may be time to reassess your lawyer’s effectiveness. Think about meeting with another attorney who may offer different ideas.It is risky for many reasons to let a divorce remain unfinalized. Fortunately, finalizing it should be possible and might even be relatively easy. Contact us at Erlich Law today for guidance.
