defended divorce but no defences lodged

Hi separated for 9 years now husband had an affair and left struggling to get a divorce as he ignores letters .
anyway court date is now set 18 april he had his lawyer send in a notice to defend and now there has been no defences lodged by the 20th feb or to date . My lawyer has sent chase up letters but no response . what happens now ??

Any answers would be helpfull, my lawyer is not very forth coming

Welcome to Wikivorce

What fact did you rely on in your divorce, and did you use the Ordinary or Simplified procedure?

Is it the divorce itself he is defending or is there a disagreement over finances or dependent children?

Where a divorce is defended in the sheriff court the next stage is an Options Hearing. This is intended to give parties a chance to meet before the sheriff in order to ascertain if agreement can be reached without proceeding to a full proof or, if this is not possible, to focus the precise disagreement between parties.


If the matters at issue are not resolved the case proceeds to a ‘proof.’ A proof is a full court hearing where evidence is given by witnesses in proceedings open court. It can be reported by the media, subject to certain restrictions aimed at protecting ‘public morals’ and children.

The court may also refer the dispute to a mediator accredited to a specified family mediation organisation at any stage in the proceedings.

I used the ordinary procedure as there is an under 16 involved. He has a disagreement with the financial side of the divorce.
Options hearing is set for 18th April, so i will have to wait till then to see what he is going to do next .
Even although he is the one that had the affair and left he is still trying to control and make my life miserable with the stress of this