My spouse/partner won’t enter an Appearance.
Once your spouse/partner has been served with proceedings, they must enter an appearance within 10 days.
Under Order 27 of the Circuit Court Rules, if your spouse/partner has not entered an appearance within the time limit, you must send them a reminder letter known as a ’14-day warning letter’. This letter will advise your spouse/partner that if they do not enter their appearance within the time prescribed, your solicitor will make an application by way of Motion to the County Registrar for judgment to be made in default of their appearance.
What is a County Registrar, and what can they do?
A County Registrar is a person who sits in the family law courts and oversees the preparation of family law cases for trial, monitors the progress of the case pre-trial and makes final arrangement for the trial. If an application is made for a Motion for Judgment in Default of Appearance and your spouse/partner attends court, the County Registrar will direct that your spouse/partner must lodge an appearance within a certain time frame. If your spouse/partner does not appear, the County Registrar has the power to transfer the matter into the Judges list to be heard as an ‘undefended hearing’.
What happens if your spouse/partner appears but does not follow the County Registrar’s direction?
You can bring a further motion to the County Registrar if your spouse/partner does not comply and ask for the matter to be transferred to the judges list at this stage. You may also ask for your costs to be ‘reserved’ which means that you will make an application in front of the judge for the costs of the delay to be awarded against your spouse/partner. This is unlikely as generally family law clients bear their own costs. However, this is a useful mechanism in cases where there has been a significant delay caused by one of the parties.
Will non-compliance cause significant delay?
Undoubtedly, failure to comply will cause delay. For a judge to rule an undefended Divorce or Judicial Separation, he or she must be satisfied with a degree of certainty that your spouse/partner does not intend to defend the proceedings. If your spouse/partner has been receiving the relevant documentation by post, and there is proof of postage as well as the contents of the letter setting out clearly what will happen in the event of non-compliance, a Judgment in Default will be successful.
For further information on this or any other family law matter, please do not hesitate to contact Brendan Dillon, Emma Dillon or Aoife Cathcart on 01296 0666.
