Moving Forward with Divorce if Your Spouse is MIA
While many couples file for divorce as soon as they decide the marriage will no longer work, others choose to separate indefinitely or simply abandon the marriage. This can sometimes result in a “missing spouse”, meaning that the husband or wife has no idea how to locate their other half to serve them with divorce papers. Courts require some sort of service or legal notification to the non-filing spouse that a divorce action has been filed, giving that person an opportunity to be heard in court.
In this instance, notice to your spouse can often be satisfied through “Service By Publication”. To get the court to accept this form of service, you’ll have to prove that you have made a diligent effort to locate your spouse and by “diligent”, we mean more than just a few phone calls.
Once you’ve exhausted all of your efforts and received approval of the court, you can publish an ad in a local newspaper notifying your missing spouse of the divorce proceedings in process. Notice that the ad is run after the divorce is filed and the choice of which newspaper is typically left up to you, although you may want to verify this with the court clerk as there may be a recommended paper typically used by the court or a requirement as to the size of the paper’s circulation for such matters.
Assuming your missing spouse does not respond within a given timeframe, your divorce would then be granted as a default judgment. The court would grant you a divorce and decide all of the terms of the divorce in the manner which you have requested.
Depending upon your circumstances, a “missing spouse divorce” can often be obtained without hiring an attorney by using a do-it-yourself divorce form.
11 Comments
how can i file divorce cannot find spouse what to do .
My friend wants to divorce her husband who she married about 8 years ago in Cuba. She has not seen her husband since and she believes he is presently in Mexico somewhere. My friend is a Florida resident. Can she get divorced using the missing spouse papers? Where would she file the ad — in a Florida paper? Thank you.
Your friend should file a petition for dissolution in Florida where she lives. Your friend should consult the family law rules in the county she lives in for the procedures for a default judgment.
I know someone that wants a divorce from his wife. They were married in Kentucky and have been seperated for nearly 6 yrs. And he doesn’t know were she is and she has their kids. How would he go about getting a divorce spproved through the courts. He now lives in Tennessee and has lived there for some time.
My spouse has been abusive to both me and our son. I got a pretective order protecting myself and son against him, but I have no clue where to find him to file for divorce and I dont want to either I am sort of afraid of what he might do. He is an alcoholic/drugy. He took my son on drug deals without my knowledge when I was at work, with my stolen rent money. He is wanted in the state of Maryland for assualt in the 2nd degree for attacking me. He has left bruises on my son as well. I have been abused by him over and over. I want to get my life back with out him. I dont want his hands on my son again, plus want his rights taken away. I want full custody and i dont want him to know where we are located, so I know we are safe. How do I file and how do I get what I want? Is there programs help me pay for the devorce as well? I want to get it over with quickly too. Thank you!
I live in oklahoma. I have been seperated from my husband since 1998. I have tried to find him several time. There are no children from this marriage. How will I show the courts my efforts to contact him?
My girl freind did everything trying to locate or server spouse in Alabama with no luck,Just went in front of the Judge yesterday she found this unacceptible,”you must suceed with serving the papers” when you cant find them what are you supposed to do
I have been living as a permanent resident here in the U.S. for 12 years and seperated from my wife in Mexico where we both got married.My question is can I file for divorce here in the States and do i need her concent?And is there anyway I can get a quickie divorce?
I am a permanent resident in the U.S. and have been living here for 12 years but have been seperated from my wife in Mexico where she resides and where we got married.My question is can I file for a divorce here in the states and do I need her concent?Also is there anyway I can get a quickie divorce?
What if the wife is in Mexico and was in US illegal only for papers and then moved back to Mexico before papers for visa were expedited. Now she wants a divorce but can’t get back to U.S. and can not find the spouse for a divorce decree. Can the wife go through divorce publication in Mexico to finalize ????
My spouse and i have been a part from each other since Oct 2009. After i moved out of our home so did he. He has left me no way of finding him. When i contact his family as to about his whereabouts I get no answer. I would like to file for a divorce and be done with it. But I do not know the proper steps to get me there. We have no children together and I still live in Maryland. But have no idea if he is still in this state or not. I just don’t know what to do.