Can my Spouse Refuse a Divorce?

What if my spouse is uncooperative or won’t agree to the divorce? Well, those are two different things. You can have a spouse that doesn’t agree to the divorce. That’s too bad for your spouse, because this is a no-fault divorce state. If you want to get a divorce in Colorado, you can. You don’t need a reason, nor does the other person have to agree. If your spouse doesn’t agree to the divorce, you still can get one.

That brings us to the second issue which is: What if my spouse is uncooperative? Well, if your spouse doesn’t want the divorce, they probably won’t be all that cooperative. All that will do is slow the process down. It will require your attorney to do motions to compel perhaps. In other words, there’s all the financial disclosures that have to be done, which can be a lot of busy work, like finding and gathering all your documents, three years of past IRS reports, etc.

If the other side doesn’t do it in the time frames required then eventually you’d have to file a motion to compel and the court will force them to do it. Or, if they absolutely won’t do it, then you’ll go in with your numbers and the court will rule on your numbers without your spouse’s input. I’ve seen situations where the other side doesn’t participate in the case at all, they refuse to even come to court or acknowledge the process. They just literally stick their head in the sand and say “I don’t want to” and they just don’t do anything.

In those situations, people are extremely sorry afterwards. Essentially what happens is that the other party goes into court and gets everything they’re asking for. It’s just not a good idea to hide your head in the sand during a divorce process. You will be able to get your divorce whether your spouse participates or does not participate.