My husband left the country a year ago, how should I proceed if I want to file for divorce?
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My husband left the country a year ago, how should I proceed if I want to file for divorce?
I’m an American citizen and have been married for about 1 1/2 years. My husband has made it very clear since then that he was not coming back, so I need to somehow file for divorce without his presence.
Asked on April 26, 2012 under Family Law, Colorado
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You can file your petition for divorce with the court where you live. You will need to have your husband served by publication since his whereabouts are unknown. Service by publication is running a notice of your petition for divorce in the legal notices section of a newspaper for a certain period of time. The required period of time for the notice to run in the newspaper varies from state to state. Your court clerk can tell you how long the notice has to run in the newspaper for it to be effective service by publication in your state. Service by publication is still valid even if your husband never sees the notice in the newspaper.
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