You decide that you are going to take the next step and file for a divorce in Washington. You and your spouse have already discussed it, and you finally realize that it is time to dissolve the marriage. You serve the paperwork to your spouse, knowing that they have to respond before the court process can begin.
So how long does your spouse get to consider that paperwork, sign it and submit it to the court? Since you are both in Washington, they typically get 20 days. There can be extended timeframes of 60 or 90 days if you serve them the paperwork outside of Washington or if they were served by publication, but the 20-day timeframe applies in your situation since you served them the papers in person and you were both in Washington state when you did so.
What if they do not respond?
That said, you may be worried that your spouse is not going to respond. Maybe they are not very cooperative or they do not want to get divorced, so you are concerned that they will ignore the paperwork. Or perhaps they are just not very organized, so you are not sure that they are going to submit the papers within the 20-day timeframe.
If this happens, it is still possible for you to get divorced. You do have to wait for the timeframe to elapse, but after it does, the court can move to dissolve your marriage without your spouse’s input. This is often referred to as a default divorce, as you are getting a default divorce decree.
But the most important thing to remember is that you can still get divorced, even without your spouse’s cooperation. You just need to know what legal steps to take.
