This is the next post in my series providing information to Las Vegas residents who wish to divorce but whose partner is not currently living in Nevada. My last post explained the publication process, which helps to serve divorce papers when one spouse does not know the location of the other spouse. In this article I will explain how a spouse can obtain a divorce when their ex is living outside of the country.
If a spouse wishes to divorce their partner who has moved overseas then the first question is whether or not the spouse filing papers knows the location of their former partner. If they do not know their spouse’s location, but do know that they are not in the country, then they may be served by publication as in any other case. The filing spouse must first hire a process server, who will do their due diligence in attempting to locate the missing spouse. The process server will check known locations, public records, etc., and make a legitimate effort to find the spouse. If the spouse is not found then the partner wishing for a divorce may file a notice in the local legal news, and mail a copy of the papers to the other party’s last known address, and after a sufficient amount of time with no reply the missing partner will be considered served. This process commonly happens when one’s partner has been deported, is ducking child support, or has committed a crime and fled the country.
If the filing spouse does know the location of the partner then there are two options. One, if the partner wishing for a divorce has a way to contact the former partner then they may request that the international partner agree to accept service of the divorce papers. If the spouse agrees, then a process server from their current country can deliver papers to a given address and the partner will be considered served. If the partner living overseas refuses to accept service then the partner living in the United States will have to have them served by going through the American consulate in their current country. This process can be expensive and time consuming; it is rare that one has to go to this extreme when they know the location of their partner. Once a spouse is served, either through publication or traditional means, then the divorce will proceed through the Nevada legal system.
Filing for a divorce when one’s spouse is out of the country can be frustrating, but it is important to remember that there are ways to ensure that a divorce get’s completed. Our Las Vegas family law attorney can assist in ensuring that one’s partner is served in as an efficient manner as possible. Contact our office today for more information.
