If they don’t know when the divorce papers will be served my attorney will tell me.
When you file for a dissolution of marriage, the first step is to prepare the documents necessary to start the process. These include the complaint (the document that requests a divorce), a summons (which states the case and how long you have to respond), court orders, and other state required forms for minor children.
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The complaint is often very short and generic, but will state facts about your marriage and what you are seeking from the divorce. It will also ask you for your marital address and any information about any minor children.
If you have children, the dissolution paperwork will also ask for a child custody order and how much alimony or child support is needed. In addition, it will ask you to complete a financial disclosure statement, which details your assets and debts.
Getting a divorce is a complex and stressful situation, and if you don’t have an experienced family law lawyer, you may be at risk of losing your case or your rights in the process. That’s why it is important to hire an attorney to guide you through the entire process.
Service
Once you’ve filed your divorce petition, you have to serve it on your spouse. This can be done by personal service, certified mail, or delivering it to your spouse’s home or office.
This is important because if you fail to follow the proper procedure to serve your spouse with divorce papers, the court can dismiss the case. Depending on the state, you can pay for a process server or sheriff to serve the divorce papers.
A process server is someone who is not involved in the case and must be at least 18 years old. A sheriff is also an option, but you should be aware that he or she may charge a fee for this service and it can be very expensive.
You can also serve the papers by publishing them in the local newspaper and sharing them with your spouse once per week for four weeks. This is a less costly way to serve the papers than hiring a process server or sheriff, but it is a bit of work and may not be ideal for all cases.
Your spouse should be given a copy of the dissolution papers within 120 days, unless they are a resident of another state. They can voluntarily accept the papers by signing an acceptance of service or a waiver of official service, or they can be given to them by a family law attorney.
In most cases, the fastest way to serve the divorce papers is through your spouse’s attorney. If your spouse is a friendly person, he or she may be willing to hand over the papers and sign an acknowledgment of service.
Then, the lawyer will file an affidavit of service to verify that your spouse was served with the divorce papers. This affidavit will show that you followed the correct legal procedures to serve your spouse with the papers.