As we mention in many of these blogs, going through a divorce is incredibly difficult. It is made even more difficult if you have an uncooperative spouse who refuses to respond to court pleadings and/or work with you to settle the issues in your divorce. An example of this issue is the very public divorce of Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom. Kardashian filed for divorce over a year ago, but she has been unable to get in touch with him to finalize everything. Khloe Kardashian still can't reach Lamar to finalize divorce, by Derrick Bryson Taylor, pagesix.com, December 29, 2014. According to the article, "He's living with some guy she doesn't know. He uses prepaid phones and constantly switches numbers." Clearly, Odom is avoiding the situation, whether just to make it difficult for Kardashian or because it doesn't want to the marriage to end. Either way, what can Kardashian do to get the divorce finalized despite Odom's uncooperativeness?
Presumably, since the divorce was filed over a year ago, Odom has already been served with the Petition for Divorce and the case has been progressing with discovery, etc. As such, all that likely remains is to finalize all outstanding issues, including division of marital assets and alimony, and obtain a final divorce decree. It appears from the article that Kardashian wants to get in touch with Odom so that they can come to an agreement on all outstanding issues and settle the case. While this is very admirable of her, it does not look like that will be successful, as Lamar has virtually disappeared. Khloe's best option at this point would be to ask the Judge to schedule a final hearing. Hopefully, Odom will appear for the hearing. However, if he does not, assuming that he did receive notice, the Judge will only be able to hear Kardashian's side of the case and will likely give her everything she requests in the divorce.
If you find yourself in a situation such as this, don't be afraid to ask your Judge for a final hearing. It is quite possible that a hearing being placed on the calendar will scare your spouse and make him/her come to the table to negotiate. If he reappears at the courthouse on the date of the hearing, most Judges will allow you time to attempt to settle the case before the hearing, if both parties want to. In the worst-case scenario, if your spouse doesn't even show up for the hearing, you will at the very least have the final divorce decree at the conclusion of the hearing. Call Meriwether & Tharp now for a free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Canton, Duluth or Decatur.