You’ve probably seen this type of scenario play out on TV or in the movies. A couple that once shared a wonderfully magical love is now on the path to divorce, only there’s a twist — one member of the party is pushing for that divorce, but the other person outright refuses to grant it. Whether the person opposed to divorce is trying to salvage the marriage or deny the decree out of spite, the result is usually a legal battle with no end in sight. Rusty Applegate is a South Carolina attorney who has been practicing family law for decades, and he likes to emphasize the fact that the television and movie versions of “divorce denial” exist for entertainment purposes only. In other words, according to South Carolina law, there is no legal validity to the notion that one person can actually deny another person a divorce.
So how does the divorce process work? Well, it’s complicated, and it varies from state to state, but the following is a quick, simplified version: If a married couple has been separated for a year and one person files a petition for divorce, then a judge will review the circumstances as well as the paperwork. If all appears to be in order, then the judge will sign the decree, thus deeming the divorce official and legally valid.
Therefore, the mere act of refusing to consent to a divorce will not necessarily stop it from happening. However, those in unhappy marriages wishing to pursue divorce shouldn’t get so comfortable just yet, because although a spouse cannot officially deny another spouse a divorce, he or she can make the process more difficult.
Let’s take a man who no longer wants to be married to his wife. If he and his wife have been separated for a year or more, then he can go ahead and file his papers. However, his wife can take certain actions that will serve to delay the divorce process and drag it out for an extended period of time. Such actions might include making unreasonable financial demands, incorporating absurd stipulations into separation agreements, and nitpicking the details of the division of assets to the point where the process is bound to take months or years longer than it actually needs to.
So technically speaking, one spouse cannot deny another spouse a divorce. But logistically speaking, one spouse can turn the process into a nightmare. Of course, this reality is probably far from comforting for those wishing to pursue divorces that might be met with a lack of consent. On the other hand, such situations are precisely what good divorce lawyers are for.
