What Happens if One Spouse Doesn’t Want a Divorce?

Our commitment is to guide our clients through the divorce process with the least amount of emotional trauma as possible.

There may possibly be nothing worse than someone wanting to divorce you if you still want to be married to them. The sad reality is that you can’t force someone to stay married to you, any more than you can force someone not to break up with you.

Missouri is a “no-fault” divorce state, meaning that you don’t have to ascribe fault to one of the parties to seek a divorce. This means that if someone wants a divorce, regardless of whether the other spouse wants to or not, they can file and have their petition approved.

What Are My Legal Options?

However, if your spouse is divorcing you and you don’t know why they want to do so, or you found out that they have reasons that you didn’t know about, like another relationship on the side, then it can work in your favor. Although Missouri is not a “fault state,” if you do have grounds for divorce (like finding out that your spouse is having an affair), or they just decide one day to up and leave, you can sue for divorce on grounds that will negatively affect what they are entitled to when you break up.

Things like desertion, extramarital affairs, or cruelty are all grounds for divorce in Missouri. Although you can get divorced for no reason at all, if you can prove that your significant other has committed adultery or that they have abused you either emotionally or physically, or have just abandoned you, then it can affect not just asset allocation but also who gains custody if you have children together.

How to Protect Yourself

There are times when you can’t get someone to stay, but that does not mean that you have to hand them the keys to go and give them everything they want without protecting yourself. If you think that giving them what they want will make them reconsider and stay, then you need to reconsider your decision of not protecting yourself.

Often, in the midst of a divorce – especially one that you don’t want – you may be willing to give in and give up more than you should, just to make the pain stop. But giving them all that they desire won’t make it any better, it likely won’t make them stay, and when you get your head on straight and stop suffering from the unexpected loss, you may be sorry that you didn’t stand up for yourself.

Our Commitment as Divorce Lawyers

That is why if you don’t want a divorce, but your significant other has either left or is not willing to work to stay together, you need to turn it over to a St. Louis divorce attorney to fight your battle in an unemotional way.

Our St. Louis divorce lawyers have made a commitment to guide our clients and their families through the divorce process with the least amount of emotional trauma and turmoil as possible. This is done while holding the interests and future of the family as a top priority.

For a Free 30 minute phone consultation please call (314) 801-8488 or fill out our online contact form.