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However, an attorney with family law experience can help you contextualize the issues and help you to plan out how to get your divorce started on the right foot. Keep in mind that just because your spouse is not physically in your home with you any longer does not mean that you are no longer married to him or her. The fact is that as a married person, unless you have a will stating otherwise, your spouse will stand to inherit any assets from you instead of other family members, friends or charities of your choosing. If you have been on bad terms with your spouse for some time and have not seen him or her in months or years it is probably the last thing you want in the world for him or her to stand to inherit significant sums or money or property from you upon your death.
Secondly, if your spouse is away from you and taking out debts in their name it is a possibility that you become responsible for those debts. This can be done legitimately through your spouse listing your name on an application for a loan or illegitimately through using your name and social security number without your permission. Either way, allowing your spouse an opportunity to do so prior to filing for divorce can cause you headaches at the very least and significant financial harm at the most.
Finally, consider your age when deciding just how speedy your divorce needs to be.
Second- consider the situation if you want or need to sell your home. For these reasons, you probably do not want to wait around for your spouse to turn up before filing for divorce. As long as you have been a resident of the state of Texas for the preceding six months prior to filing for divorce, and a resident of the county that you are filing in for the preceding three months then you can file for divorce in Texas.
The State is said to have jurisdiction over you. All you need to get a divorce is for the state to have jurisdiction over at least one of you. While the method of serving your spouse known as a the respondent in the legal world that is most tried, true and preferred is personal service, there are other methods to consider.
Other methods of service that can be utilized are service by publication or service by posting the citation and petition to the courthouse steps. If your spouse is a resident of Texas as best you know then a Texas family law court can issue orders in conjunction with a divorce that divide up personal property, real property and any other property that is a part of your community estate. Keep in mind that courts can also issue orders on these subjects even if your spouse is not determined to be a resident of Texas.
All that a judge would need to get to this point is a determination that Texas is a state with which your spouse has had significant past contacts.
You must also search the phone book online is fine in the city that your spouse last lived in and confirm that all persons with the same name last name and at least first initial are not your spouse. There is no guarantee that the motion will be granted, however in most cases the judge who rejects the motion will tell you what additional steps will satisfy the court. The following are suggestions on what to do: You should make prepare a list of all contacts with all known relatives and friends names, phone numbers, relation and response. How much does a divorce cost? Insert details about the last time you saw your spouse.
Getting married in Texas, doing significant business in the state and having children that your spouse visits here are the sort of significant contact that a court would be looking for. If you state to a judge that you cannot locate your spouse for service purposes he or she will likely tell you to keep trying to locate him or her. The reason is that courts need you to display due diligence in attempting to locate and serve personally your spouse with divorce papers.
You will need to show a judge often through an affidavit all of the effort that you have undertaken to locate your spouse. Once you have done so most judges will appoint an attorney ad litem to the case whose sole job is to attempt to locate your spouse. The judge will request periodic updates in hearings to inform him of the progress or lack thereof on locating your spouse. Once the judge is satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate your spouse then he or she will issue an order that allows your spouse to be served via substituted service.
Often times this is in the form of service by publication. It is not easy to divorce a missing spouse- seek help from an experienced family law attorney. There is no court fee associated with filing an application in a case seeking an order to dispense with service.
But, if after you've made diligent efforts to locate your spouse and can't find him/her, you can ask the court for an Order of Notice by Publication. This means that. What if I can't serve the papers because I can't find my spouse? If you cannot find your spouse, you can request permission from the court to publish a notice of.
The affidavit is where you explain all the steps you have taken to locate your spouse. For example:. An application for substituted service or dispensation of service related to a divorce application will usually be listed on the same day and time as the divorce hearing. If you have applied for substituted service or dispensation of service, you should attend the court hearing.
You may be required to give more information to the Court. This applies even if you have chosen not to attend the hearing on your Application for Divorce. The Court may adjourn your case and direct you to take extra steps to find the respondent. All rights reserved.