ABANDONMENT

You can divorce that man in Pennsylvania quite easily by stating in the divorce papers that your marriage is "irretrievably broken" and that you have been separated for over a year. That's all it should take. You will need the correct divorce paperwork (contact your county court clerk) for the county you are living in (for at least 6 months hopefully). An uncontested divorce based on abandonment should be a fairly straightforward process that you can handle by yourself (given the correct paperwork).

Since you are in Pennsylvania and your spouse has left the country, if it has been longer than 12 months, you have established desertion. In Pennsylvania, there are two types of desertion: willful desire or intent to actually desert and the cutting off of the marital relationship. When your spouse packed up and left he became guilty of actual desertion and you can get a divorce decree without his consent, presence or signature.

-The Divorce.com Team

Wendy Jaffe and Divorce.com can only provide general information about divorce. DO NOT RELY ON MS. JAFFE'S ADVICE ALONE. Before acting on information provided by Ms. Jaffe or by Divorce.com, talk to an attorney first about your particular facts and the law of your state. By submitting your question to Divorce.com, you are not creating an attorney/client relationship with Ms. Jaffe or with any of the other attorneys listed on this site.