Crystal Wright | September 4, 2025 | Divorce in Georgia
If you have made the difficult decision to get divorced, you may feel frustrated if your spouse is not responding to your communications or divorce papers. However, you do not need your spouse’s permission to get divorced in Georgia. You can proceed with the divorce process with or without their cooperation.
This article will look at the steps you can take if your spouse ignores divorce papers and what it means for your case.
Divorce Process in Divorce
The divorce process officially begins in Georgia when you file a petition for divorce with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where you or your spouse has lived for at least six months.
Your divorce petition sets out various information, including:
- Residency information for you and your spouse
- The right of the court to hear the case
- The legal grounds for divorce
- The legal issues your case involves
- Requested relief (such as a division of property or child custody)
Along with your petition for divorce, you receive a summons for divorce. The summons states that a civil case has been filed against your spouse and that they have a limited time to provide an answer to avoid a default judgment against them.
How to Serve a Spouse with Divorce Papers
You are responsible for notifying your spouse of your complaint for divorce so that they have a right to respond to your requests to the court.
This is done through legally serving your spouse, which may be completed in different ways, including:
- Personal service: Certain people are allowed by law to personally serve others with official legal papers, including the sheriff of the county where the action is brought, the marshal or sheriff of the court, individuals appointed by the court for this purpose, or certified process servers.
- Service by publication: Service by publication occurs when the court orders this type of service, usually because the party cannot be located or is intentionally avoiding service.
Your spouse could waive service so that you can skip this requirement. However, if they are not responding to divorce papers, they may not be willing to waive this requirement. Still, as long as you serve your spouse and can prove it, you can move along with the divorce process.
Default Divorce Judgments
Your spouse will generally have a set time to provide an answer after being legally served with the divorce papers.
If they don’t respond to the divorce papers, you can request a default judgment against your spouse, which could mean:
- You get the property that you are specifically requesting in the divorce.
- You receive full custody of your children.
- You receive the amount of child support that corresponds to the appropriate amount of child support in the guidelines.
- You receive spousal support in the amount you requested.
For these reasons, it can be advantageous for your spouse to ignore divorce papers.
How Long Does a Divorce Take if Your Spouse Doesn’t Respond?
The timeline for a divorce in Georgia depends in part on whether your spouse participates. If your spouse does not respond after being served, your case may move more quickly through the courts since it is treated as an uncontested divorce.
Georgia law requires at least a 30-day waiting period after service before the court can grant a final judgment. In many cases, this means a divorce could be finalized within a few months. However, if your spouse contests the case later or if complex issues like child custody or property division arise, the process could take longer.
Contact Crystal Wright Law, LLC for a Confidential Consultation
If your spouse is not responding to divorce papers in Georgia, an experienced divorce attorney from Crystal Wright Law, LLC can help. Call us today for a confidential case review.
To learn more and get the help you deserve, contact our legal team at Crystal Wright Law and schedule your consultation today.
We have offices in Atlanta and Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Crystal Wright Law – Atlanta Office
1718-1720 Peachtree St NW, Suite 920, Atlanta, GA 30309
(404)-594-2143
Crystal Wright Law – Lawrenceville Office
440 S. Perry Street, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, GA 30046
(404)-649-5554
