Service by publication
Question:
"I haven't seen my spouse in over three years, and I can't locate him. I've called his family and they claim they haven't seen him. How can I divorce someone I can't find?"
By publication. In Florida, you can divorce someone by publishing your divorce summons in the classified, legal section of the local paper or by sending a certified letter to the last known address. Since no one ever reads the legal section, you'll win your divorce by publication pretty much automatically. Your spouse won't know that you've divorced him or her, won't show up to fight the divorce, and you'll win everything that the judge will give you.
Sound pretty cool? It is, but there's a catch. Before you can divorce by publication, you have to swear that you've looked pretty hard for your spouse. How hard should you look? Well, Florida law suggests that you at least ask around, including asking family and former employers. You should also check arrest records for your location, the Florida DMV, utility companies, the white pages, the internet, occupational licensing agencies, the IRS, hospitals near where your spouse last lived, the coroner's office, the military, the USPS for an address change, and anywhere else you can think of to find him or her.
Yeah, I know it sounds like an awful lot of work, but it may be worth it to get your divorce.
2 Comments:
I would like to know if I am incarcerated and want a divorce by someone who I have not seen in over 20 years what do I need to do? Do I need to do the divorce by publication? I really know nothing of her and she left the day we were married. I am incarcerated in Florida, yet we were married in Camden County, GA.
Well, it's like I said before, you have to do the search. It's a little tough to do the search from prison, but being incarcerated doesn't give you any exemption from the search. You may need to hire a private investigator (that's what we do at the firm) to do the search for you, but it's gotta be done.
Once the search comes up empty, you can then serve her by certified mail at her last known address.
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