The Respondent is the party of a marriage who did not petition the Tribunal for an investigation into the marriage; the Petitioner is the party of a marriage who begins the process of the investigation.
The Respondent can choose to participate in the process by submitting testimony and witnesses. He/she also has the opportunity to read the acts of the case and the definitive sentence at the appointed times. However, if the Respondent does not want to participate in the process or cannot be located, the process can continue on without them.
As a party to the marriage, the law requires that we attempt to contact them. They have a right to know that an investigation is being done on their marriage. If there is a concern about contacting the Respondent, the Tribunal will not divulge contact information, but the Respondent must be cited. If you have more questions about this, please contact the Tribunal.