How do I file divorce papers, if I have had no contact with my husband and he lives in another state?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How do I file divorce papers, if I have had no contact with my husband and he lives in another state?
Asked on December 23, 2012 under Family Law, Michigan
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You can file your petition for dissolution of marriage in your state and have your husband served in his state by a process server. Use a process server in or near the city where your husband lives or works. You can find process servers listed under attorney services in the Yellow Pages or online.
If you don't know your husband's current address, the process server can do a skip trace.
If you have no idea as to your husband's whereabouts, he can be served by publication. Service by publication is running a notice in the legal notices section of a newspaper of your petition for dissolution of marriage for the period of time required by the court in which you are filing your petition for dissolution of marriage. The required period of time for the notice to run in the legal notices section of a newspaper for valid service by publication varies from state to state. Your court clerk can tell you what the required time period is in your state. Service by publication is effective even if your husband never sees the notice in the newspaper.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.