If I have not seen my husband in 32 years, what forms do I need to do divorce him?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I have not seen my husband in 32 years, what forms do I need to do divorce him?
Asked on March 19, 2011 under Family Law, California
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
If you are having difficulty serving your spouse with divorce papers because you do not know where he lives, you may have to request permission from the court to "serve by publication." What this means is that you will have to place a legal notice in a newspaper that is published in the area where your husband was last known to live. The notice must run once a week for 4 weeks. At the end of that time, your husband will be considered to have been "served." However before the court will give its permission to serve your husband in this way you will have to prove that you made a good faith effort to find him. Such efforts should include contacting his former employers (or present if known) sending a letter to his last known address, speaking to friends and relatives, and performing an on-line search. If your spouse does not respond to the published notice, you can ask the court to grant a divorce "by default." This means that because your husband has not shown up in court to contest the divorce, the court will award you the divorce that you asked for.
Specifically, what you need to do is to file an “Ex Parte Application for Publication of Summons”. This document asks the court to allow you to serve your spouse by publishing the Summons in the newspaper since he can’t be located. The court must approve the Ex Parte Application for Publication of Summons, Declaration in Support Thereof, Memorandum of Points and Authorities and Order for Publication of Summons. Once all of these documents have been approved, you will be allowed to serve your husband via publication. At that point you publish the Summons in the newspaper. After the 4 required weeks have expired, file a “Request to Enter Default Dissolution of Marriage” with the court. The judge will issue a “Default Judgment” for divorce. You won’t even have to attend court for this. Your divorce will become final 6 months after you first published notice to your husband.
Since this can all get a little complicated, you should consult directly with a divorce attorney in your area.
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.