| Serving Divorce Papers If You Can't Locate Your Spouse |
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by: Children's Law Center
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| Q. | What if I can't serve the papers because I can't find my spouse? |
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| A. |
- If you cannot find your spouse, you must get permission from the court to publish a notice of the divorce in the newspaper or post a notice in the courthouse.
- This is called a motion to serve by publication or posting.
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| Q. | When can I file a motion to serve by publication or posting? |
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| A. |
- The court can allow publication or posting if the court decides that you have made sufficient efforts to find your spouse and your spouse cannot be found.
- This means that you must first try to find your spouse. You will need to tell the court exactly what you did and the responses you received. This means that you need to keep a list of the places you contact and what you do or don't find out. Save copies of any documents you send or receive.
- You have 60 days from the day you file your divorce papers to serve your spouse.
- If you are not able to serve within that time, you can go back to the Family Court Central Intake Center before the 60 days are up. They will give you a new Summons and you will get an additional 60 days.
- If you need more time after that, you will have to file a written request for more time and a judge will have to approve it.
- If you do not follow these procedures, your case may be dismissed and you will have to start all over again.
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| Q. | What do I have to do to try to find my spouse? |
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| A. | The law does not say exactly what you have to do. What is reasonable depends on the situation.
Here are some suggestions about what efforts the court wants you to make:
- State the last time you saw your spouse and where.
- Check his last known address.
- Check at his last known job, if any.
- Check with any of your spouse's family members that you can contact.
- Check the D.C., Maryland and Virginia telephone books.
- Call the D.C. Jail and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
- Check with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Check through the internet.
- Check local hospitals and homeless shelters (they may not give you information, but check with them anyway).
- Provide any other information you have to explain why you can't find your spouse.
- Click here for sample letters you can send to determine if your spouse might be in the military.
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| Q. | What if some of the people I ask won't give me any information? |
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| A. | You should state that in your papers. |
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| Q. | When I have finished searching for my spouse, what do I do? |
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| A. |
- File a Motion to Serve By Publication or Posting. Click here for a Motion to Serve By Publication or Posting you can fill out online. You will still need to file it with the court.
- You can attach extra sheets listing what you did to try to find your spouse.
- There is a $20 filing fee unless the court has granted your request for a fee waiver.
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| Q. | What happens next? |
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- A judge will review your motion and decide whether to permit you to publish your notice.
- The judge will sign an order either granting or denying your motion. The order will be mailed to you.
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| Q. | What if my motion is denied? |
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| A. |
- Sometimes the judge will say specifically what else you should do to try to find your spouse. You can go ahead and do those things.
- Sometimes the judge will only say that you haven't done enough. Then you have to figure out other efforts you can make to try to locate your spouse and show that your spouse cannot be found.
- After you have done these additional things, you can file the motion again. You can refer to your previous motion and then explain the additional things you have done.
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| Q. | If my motion for publication is granted, what happens next? |
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- A notice must be published once a week for three weeks in two newspapers of general circulation.
- After you have received the court order granting your motion, go to the Family Court Central Intake Center. They will assist you in making arrangements for publication.
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| Q. | Which newspapers are "general circulation"? |
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| A. | Newspapers of general circulation include The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Washington Afro-American, and the Daily Washington Law Reporter. The Family Court Central Intake Center will help you arrange publication in one of these papers. |
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| Q. | How much does it cost? |
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| A. | Every newspaper is different. You will have to contact the newspaper to find out. |
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| Q. | What do I do after the notice has been published? |
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- The newspaper will mail a notarized statement (affidavit) that the notice was published.
- If the newspaper mails the notice to you, you must file the notice with the Family Court Central Intake Center.
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| Q. | I can't afford to publish the notice in the newspaper. What can I do? |
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| A. |
- You can ask the court for permission to post the notice in the courthouse. This is a called a Motion to Post. Click here for a Motion to Post that you can fill out online. You will still need to file it with the court.
- You will have to give the court information about your income and financial situation to explain why you can't afford to publish the notice.
- If you have already been granted a fee waiver, you will be given permission to post notice, but you still have to file the Motion to Post and explain your financial circumstances again. Be sure to mention that you have already been granted a fee waiver.
- If you have not gotten a fee waiver, the judge will review your explanation about why you cannot afford the cost of publication and decide whether to permit posting or not.
- You will receive a copy of the judge's decision in the mail.
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| Q. | If the court grants permission to post the notice, what happens next? |
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| A. | The court takes care of posting the notice. You may want to check through the Family Court Central Intake Center. The notice is posted on a bulletin board in the Domestic Relations Clerk's office, Room 4230 in the courthouse. It must be posted for 21 calendar days. |
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| Q. | If the court does not give permission to post the notice, what happens next? |
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| A. | You will have to publish the notice in the newspaper. |
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| Q. | I don't understand why I have to do this. My spouse is not going to see the notice in the newspaper or in the courthouse. |
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| A. | Although it is very unlikely that your spouse will see the notice, the law requires it. |
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| Q. | After the notice has been posted or published, what happens next? |
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| A. | Read the sections on Filing Proof of Service in a Divorce Case and What Happens After I Have Served the Divorce Papers on My Spouse to find out what to do next. |
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