Can a spouse fight a divorce in court?

Yes. A party can contest a divorce in court, but a spouse should remember that courts only issue the public divorce. In other words, when one spouse wants to end the marriage, he or she can and will do it with or without the agreement of the other spouse. At this stage, preventing divorce rarely saves a marriage. Every state in America now has some form of no-fault divorce, which makes it easier for one spouse to end a marriage regardless of the wishes of the other. Under these conditions, contesting divorce does not prevent it; instead it means postponing the burial of dead marriage.

Regardless of odds against success, spouses sometimes contest divorces in the hope of a change of heart by the other spouse; or they contest them to be nasty; or they contest them just to buy time. Such dilatory tactics rarely prevent divorce.

Spouses can and do still fight a divorce, fault or no-fault. Preventing a determined spouse is almost impossible, however.