Short answer. The court does not simply proceed as if nothing happened. Article 244 of the Family Code requires the court to inquire into why your spouse failed to appear, and to require that appearance if possible. Non-appearance triggers a court inquiry into the reasons, not an automatic default in your favor.
What the law says
In case of non-appearance of the spouse whose consent is sought, the court shall inquire into the reasons for his failure to appear, and shall require such appearance, if possible.
Family Code, Article 244 — Non-Appearance of the Spouse Whose Consent Is Sought. Read the full provision →
The court must inquire into why your spouse didn't appear
Article 244 sets out what happens next: in case of non-appearance of the spouse whose consent is sought, the court shall inquire into the reasons for his failure to appear. The word shall makes this a mandatory step, not something the court may skip at its discretion. Non-appearance does not simply get noted and set aside — it triggers an active inquiry by the court into what caused the absence, before the proceeding can move forward on that basis.
The court will try to secure the appearance if it can
The article goes further than just asking why: it also directs the court to require such appearance, if possible. So the court's role is not passive here — where it is possible to bring the absent spouse into the proceeding, the article directs the court to actually pursue that, rather than treating the absence as a technicality that can simply be worked around. The qualifier if possible acknowledges that this will not always be achievable, but it is what the court is required to attempt.
Why the inquiry matters to the outcome of your petition
Because the petition concerns a spouse whose consent is being sought, their absence at the hearing is directly relevant to what the proceeding is trying to establish. The reasons behind that absence — whether it reflects an inability to attend, active refusal, or something else — are exactly what the court's inquiry under this article is meant to surface. Article 244 treats those reasons as material to the proceeding, not as a detail that can be set aside once the hearing date has simply passed.
What this article does not resolve
Article 244 requires the inquiry and the attempt to secure appearance; it does not itself state what happens to your petition once that inquiry is complete, or what result follows if the spouse still cannot be reached or still refuses to appear. Those consequences depend on the rest of the proceeding and on what the inquiry actually uncovers. What this article guarantees is that non-appearance triggers a real, court-driven examination of the reasons behind it, rather than being ignored or treated as automatically resolving matters in your favor.