How long after I file for divorce will I receive something?

Question

My spouse filed for divorce 2 months ago, but I haven't received anything. Is there action I need to take?

George Derieg · Answer

Your spouse will need to personally serve you the divorce petition and summons. Once you are served the petition and summons, you are given 30 days to respond to the petition, and after file a response and serve it on your spouse, you will then choose a court date for a first hearing.  If your spouse has not served you yet, then the court does not have jurisdiction over you.

Nancy Harkess · Answer

You have 20 days to Answer a Complaint after you've been served.  If you do not agree completey with the Complaint, you should file a counterclaim.  If you do not answer, your spouse may obtain a Default Judgment.

Austin Hirschhorn · Answer

You should have been served with the complaint that was filed by now.  If you are personally served, you have 21 days to respond.  If you are served by mail, you have 28 days to respond.  If you are sure that your spouse filed a couple of months ago it might make sense for you to contact him and arrange to get a copy of the complaint.

Clayton Lockhart · Answer

If your spouse filed for divorce and you haven't been served properly, then you're under no obligation to take any actions as the court has no jurisdiction over your person and therefore cannot make any judgments against you until you have been properly served.

John Brennan · Answer

If you have never been served or acknowledged the suit this is longer than normal.  You need an attorney.

Gary Moore · Answer

You need to take the summons and divorce complaint served upon you to an attorney so that he can advise and represent you.

Joanna Mitchell · Answer

You should consult with an attorney. It is possible that he is claiming that he can't find you to serve you and that the divorce is proceeding without you based on false pretenses.

Leonard A. Kaanta · Answer

If he filed, you would have been served with a summons and complaint and you had to answer the complaint within 21 days.

James Weiner · Answer

If you want the divorce go to the Court get the papers and hire an attorney and answer It sounds like she is waffling.. the divorce action will most likely be dismissed because the summons will have expired if she (or her attorney) does not serve you within 90 days after filing.

William Spern · Answer

You must be served with the complaint. You than have a fixed period of time to respond or a default will be entered against you. You should receive a copy of the default. You should get an attorney or appear personally, deny all allegation that you do not have personal knowledge of or with which you disagree. You must act to protect your property rights and custody of your children if that is an issue. In Michigan, a divorce cannot happen for three (3) month if no children or six (6) months if children without a modification of the rule.

Maryanne Spryszak-Hanna · Answer

You should have received something almost immediately. Call the court or his attorney to see where the papers are. Perhaps they came and you missed them. Perhaps he is running a scam on you. The court will know if it has been filed and if there is a proof of mailing on file. If not, the attorney for his should knbow where those papers are.

Harry Roth · Answer

Filing is just the very first step on a very long road. If you are going to wait for the papers from your spouse to arrive, it could very well be like Hamlet waiting for Rosecrans and Guildenstern; they aren't coming. If you are serious about getting divorced, take the bull by the horns and start doing stuff yourself.? Hire a lawyer or buy a book (or borrow it from the library) and do it yourself. Wait for the other party at your own risk. You will still be married when it's time for Social Security.  Harry Roth

Aimee Carol Robbins · Answer

You should have been personally served by an agent/process server or   sheriff with the Summons and Complaint for Divorce so you would have had Notice.   Your husband would have had to file an Affidavit of Service for the case to  move  forward, otherwise his case will be dismissed.  You should go to the courthouse and check in central files if a case has   been started. It if has, you should move to dismiss it for lack of service of   the Complaint of Divorce.

Marc John Weinpel · Answer

If you are sure that he "filed" you should check the status of your case here:  https://www.idcourts.us/repository/start.do  Service of papers upon you must occur within 6 months of the "Summons" being issued.

Robert Merlin · Answer

You will not receive anything if your spouse is not doing anything. You can go to the courthouse to look at your file or you may be able to access it on line. Call the Clerk of your local Family Court.

Eric Smith · Answer

You are required to be served the petition or waive service for the proceeding to go forward. If you want to move the proceeding forward, you can file a waiver or answer yourself. If the petition was really filed, it is available at your district clerk's office.

Jennifer Hanna · Answer

If you haven't even received a copy of the divorce documents, and you  do want a divorce, you need to arrange to get a copy from your spouse  and arrange for an admission of service to be filed with the court.   Once you have the papers, it will be four months before anything can be  finalized.  If you and your spouse agree on everything, filing a  marital settlement agreement with the court will speed things along.

Dean Esposito · Answer

It should not take that long to serve you. You can go to the courthouse, get a  copy of what he filed, draft and answer & reconventional demand requesting a  hearing date and have him served with it.

Gregory Crain · Answer

They have 120 days to serve you.

John Kirchner · Answer

You don't provide enough information to understand the situation. But, you won't receive anything from a court - most of the information and documents concerning the current status of the case will be your spouse's responsibility to notify you.  Except for those things that he is required to notify you about, it is your responsibility to keep up with the process and learn what you need to do on your own.  You should consult an attorney to learn more about the process of handing the case.

Gary Russell · Answer

The party filing for the divorce (the plaintiff) is issued a summons along with his complaint.  The summons is only good for 90 days.  The plaintiff must serve the defendant with the summons and complaint within those 90 days.  If not, the summons will expire and the case will be dismissed.  If you have not been served with the summons and complaint, there is no responsibility on your part to do anyhing.  Once served, however, you will have either 21 or 28 days to file and answer (depending upon how you were served) or a default could be entered against you.

Glenn Tanner · Answer

Yes, you need to move for temporary orders or push the case to trial.

Mark Brown · Answer

You should take the initiative to contact the clerk of the court in the county in which he filed the case to determine the status.

Bernal Ojeda · Answer

Generally you get served with a copy of the summons and petitioner within the first week or so of filing.  You can go to the court and get a copy of what was filed.

Dennis P. Mikko · Answer

Once you have been served with a summons and complaint, you will have 21 days to file an answer.  If you don't answer, a default will be entered against you.  You may wish to consult with an attorney who can arrange for service and the filing of an appropriate answer.

Frances Headley · Answer

You should have been served by now.  You should check with the court to see if anything has been filed.

Erin Farley · Answer

Once you are served with the paperwork, you need to file a response within 30 days. I advise you to check with the courthouse and determine whether a proof of service has been filed.

Steven Alpers · Answer

Yes you must reply to the petition for divorce and push the issue of support or property division.  You probably will get nothing until you push the issue.  There does not seem like much incentive for him to help you out.

Ronnie Vargas · Answer

If you are doing a divorce without an attorney you need to follow the steps than an attorney would. I suggest you look at the Wisconsin State Bar website and look at their resources section to gather the information you need.

Tobie Waxman · Answer

He is supposed to serve you with the papers he filed with the court. To be on the safe side, I'd go pull the court's file and make sure he didn't file a proof of service. Or, you can check the court's website to see if a proof of service has been filed.

John Rivers · Answer

Apparently, you are not represented by an attorney. You need to employ a competent and experienced family law attorney and follow his advice. At this point it would seen that you should have had a temporary hearing.   While the divorce action is pending,you should secure a temporary order from the court. The most common order is one for temporary support in which the wife and the children are awarded a certain dollar amount which is usually paid into the office of the Child Support Receiver or Clerk. This order may also be accompanied by an order providing for temporary use of the home place and temporary attorney's fees. Another common temporary order is one which provides for injunctive relief to prevent either spouse from harassing, phoning, contacting, bothering, or otherwise molesting the other.  In many jurisdictions there is a standing order that covers most of these points.

Barbara Peyton · Answer

Absolutely If you haven't been served with papers check with the court he filed in to see what is going on.  You can voluntarily file a Response to keep things moving along.  sometimes a spouse will change his/her mind about going forward or pretend the papers have been served.  You need to take some action to protect yourself.

Robert De Groot · Answer

Call the civil process section of the county sheriff's office and tell them you need to be served.

Ronee F Korbin Steiner · Answer

If you haven't been served, then nothing will happen until he serves you the documents.

James Albert Bordonaro · Answer

You should have received a Summons at the same time as a copy of the Petition for Divorce.  If not, contact his attorney or the Court to find out what the delay is.

Dennis Leffert · Answer

I suggest you contact the Court Clerk, where the divorce was filed, in order to get updated on the status.

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