Short answer. Yes. Article 245 of the Family Code allows the court to proceed ex parte and render judgment as the facts warrant if, despite all efforts, the non-consenting or non-appearing spouse's attendance cannot be secured. Even then, the judge is directed to endeavor to protect that absent spouse's interests in the proceeding.
What the law says
If, despite all efforts, the attendance of the non-consenting spouse is not secured, the court may proceed ex parte and render judgment as the facts and circumstances may warrant.
Family Code, Article 245 — Proceeding Ex Parte to Protect the Absent Spouse. Read the full provision →
What Article 245 allows the court to do
Article 245 provides that if, despite all efforts, the attendance of the non-consenting spouse is not secured, the court may proceed ex parte and render judgment as the facts and circumstances may warrant. "Ex parte" means the court can go ahead and decide the matter based on what is before it, even without the other spouse's participation, once real efforts to bring that spouse in have failed rather than simply never having been tried.
Article 245 belongs to the Family Code's Title on summary judicial proceedings, which Article 238 applies to separation in fact, abandonment by one spouse of the other, and incidents involving parental authority. That is the setting in which the ex parte power operates, short and narrowly framed petitions, rather than a general licence to decide any family case without the other spouse.
"Despite all efforts" is a real condition, not a formality
The article does not let a proceeding move ex parte simply because the other spouse is inconvenient to locate or unwilling to respond right away. The phrase despite all efforts requires that genuine attempts were made to secure that spouse's attendance before the court proceeds without them — the absence has to be a documented failure to secure participation, not an assumption made early in the case.
The court still has to protect the absent spouse
Even after proceeding ex parte, the article directs that the judge shall endeavor to protect the interests of the non-appearing spouse. Deciding without one party present does not mean that party's interests are simply disregarded — the court retains a duty to be mindful of them in reaching its judgment, which is a check on treating an ex parte proceeding as a one-sided formality.
Two consequences follow. Proceeding ex parte does not mean winning by default: the court still renders judgment as the facts and circumstances may warrant, so the petitioner has to make the case out on the evidence, which under Article 246 may be affidavits, documents or oral testimony. And the outcome is not provisional, since Article 247 makes the judgment in these proceedings immediately final and executory. That is precisely why the judge is told to guard the absent spouse's interests along the way.
What this means for your case
If your spouse cannot be located or refuses to appear, keep a record of every attempt made to reach or notify them — addresses tried, notices sent, and any response received — since that record is what supports the court's finding that efforts were genuinely made. A lawyer handling your case can advise on what efforts the court will expect before it proceeds under Article 245.