If your spouse has left you without any attempts of communicating, perhaps you’re wondering, “What is marriage abandonment in California?” and what the legal implications are. Whether you and your spouse are already going through a divorce or not, a qualified family law attorney can guide you through the process.
Marriage abandonment, or spousal abandonment, is when one spouse has intentionally left the marital home without the other spouse’s consent, presumably with the intent to end the marriage. California law recognizes spousal abandonment as when the abandoning party has no intentions of returning and has been consistently absent from the marital home for a prolonged duration of time.
Marriage abandonment is sometimes used as a valid grounds for divorce in some states, but in California, grounds for divorce aren’t required; California’s “no-fault” divorce uses the grounds of “irreconcilable differences” for all marriage dissolutions, regardless of the circumstances and no evidence needs to be provided. No-fault divorces can also proceed without the consent or presence of both spouses.
While marriage abandonment is not required to file for divorce, nor does it impact a spouse’s ability to move forward with the proceedings of a marriage dissolution — if the abandoning spouse left amidst settling the divorce — spousal abandonment can still present certain issues that need to be addressed despite one spouse being absent.
Marriage abandonment can affect how a person is meant to approach a number of different family law matters, including how to file for a divorce, finalize an ongoing divorce, or modify the court orders resulting from marriage dissolution now that one party is no longer present. How you may need to proceed after experiencing spousal abandonment will differ depending on your circumstances; consider consulting with a family attorney about your case.
Within a normal divorce, the spouses’ marital property is to be divided equitably between both parties. In the case of spousal abandonment, the court may determine that by abandoning the marriage, that spouse has forfeited their share of the property. It’s possible the court may award a portion, or all, of their marital property to the spouse who was abandoned or even allocate to the abandoning party a larger share of the marital debt.
In the event the abandonment has resulted in financial hardship for the remaining spouse, the court is likely to consider this when determining the matter of alimony, also called spousal support. Standard divorce procedure calls for the court to look at the ability of each spouse to earn income in addition to their financial needs and other factors, but following marriage abandonment, the court will likely order the abandoning spouse to pay spousal support.
The choice to abandon one’s marriage in addition to any children the couple shares is also likely to be noted by the family court when deciding child custody and child financial support. As with any custody case, however, the court will consider all relevant factors when determining what custody arrangement is ideal for the child’s wellbeing.
Both parents of a child are obligated by law to provide financial support to their children, making it a crime for either party to avoid helping furnish their child’s basic necessities willfully. If you are given primary physical custody of the child, you may seek child support from the abandoning spouse with the help of the court, who can order them to provide support or face the repercussions.
If the abandoning party shows no intentions of returning to care for their child, provide child support, or fulfill their parental duties, the child’s other parent or the courts can use this abandonment as sufficient grounds for the absent parent to be stripped of their parental rights. This means the custodial parent can seek sole custody, or other interested parties may petition for shared custody or guardianship, such as the abandoning spouse’s parents.
A: Spousal abandonment occurs when one partner leaves for a prolonged period of time with seemingly no intentions of returning. The abandoning spouse may have left without notifying the other spouse after a marital disagreement or left but inaccurately expressed their intention to return, among other possibilities.
Under California law, marriage abandonment is when one spouse has left with no intention of returning and has been consistently absent for an extended amount of time; the specific period of time can vary.
A: In California, a spouse who wishes to divorce can do so without the consent of their partner since the state has a “no-fault” divorce. This means the court doesn’t require a person to provide evidence that their spouse has committed marital misconduct or other circumstances that would qualify as valid grounds for divorce, which is the case in some other states.
A: If your spouse has abandoned you and a child you share, whether you’re separated/divorced or not, this may be enough to ask the court for full custody or to strip the abandoning parent of their obligations and rights to your child. Both parents are obligated to support their children financially, so if one party abandons their duties, they will probably be required to forfeit their parental rights.
A: If your spouse has abandoned you shortly after you’ve filed for divorce or is in the middle of legal proceedings, you may continue with the divorce if enough time has passed for the situation to be legally determined as marriage abandonment. These circumstances will likely affect how the divorce case is handled, but abandonment will not prevent the divorce process from continuing.
The Edgar & Dow have assisted in numerous divorce proceedings, including when one spouse is unwilling to compromise or has seemingly abandoned the marriage. Reach out to our team today to speak with a qualified attorney who’s ready to help you every step of the way.
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