Can’t locate your spouse in New Jersey and afraid it will stop your divorce? Don’t worry. A missing spouse can’t keep you married. It only means you may need to take a few extra steps to ensure the court is satisfied that you tried your hardest to find them.
You have options, and you’re not stuck being married. Here’s what you need to know to finally close this chapter.
No Shortcuts for Divorce in New Jersey
First, you must look for your spouse because New Jersey has no shortcuts for divorce. Judges want to see that you made a real and honest effort to find them before you can serve your spouse divorce papers. This is called diligent inquiry, and it includes checking last known addresses, communication with friends, family, or employers, motor vehicle records, online searches, and postal activity.
Many people hire a professional to conduct a locate search to strengthen their affidavit of diligent inquiry. The more places you check, the better you can prove each dead end. Contact your divorce attorney for more information.
Service by Publication: What to Know
It’s impossible to hand your spouse divorce papers in person when you can’t find them, so you can ask the judge for permission to serve him another way. This other way is called service by publication, which means you publish a notice of the divorce in an approved newspaper near your spouse’s last known location.
This gives your spouse a fair chance to learn about the case without service from a sheriff or a court official. You’ll also mail a copy to the last known address and must pay for the newspaper ad, but some courts may order your spouse to repay it later.
What Happens After Publication?
The clock starts as soon as the publication is complete. Your spouse will have 35 days to respond before you can ask the court to move forward with a default judgment.
A default judgment means the judge can grant your divorce without your spouse’s input. That could mean you get some, if not all, of what you request, not including possession of marital property and custody of children.
Cases with missing spouses often take a little longer than the standard divorces because of the extra steps, but the court can sign their final judgment of divorce and end the marriage without ever locating your spouse. Reach out to Hand & Toker to get started.
Military Checks Before Filing Divorce
You must also confirm whether your spouse is or is not on active duty in the military before a New Jersey court will grant a default divorce. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act gives active-duty service members specific protection, including not having their marriage pulled out from under them while serving. Check your spouse’s status for free on the Department of Defense verification site.
Dividing Marital Property and Setting Support When You Can Find Your Spouse
Can the judge still provide marital property and set child support or spousal support when one spouse is missing? The court can almost always end the marriage, but deciding financial issues and property, alimony, child support, and parenting time are different matters.
The court generally needs a strong legal connection to those matters to make orders stick against a spouse you can’t locate. Often in these situations, couples get divorced 1st and then sort out the financial pieces later when the other spouse resurfaces.
This is the kind of thing your lawyer should look at before you file for divorce in New Jersey. Talk to them about what should be included in your complaint and what your chances are of being awarded a default judgment. Book a consultation today.
What to Do If You Find Your Spouse
A missing spouse can reappear before or after the divorce is final. If it happens afterwards, the court can reopen the financial pieces that it could not the first time. This isn’t you starting over but simply addressing what was left unresolved. Here is how Hand & Toker can help:
- Helping to divide marital property and assets
- Requesting child support or alimony
- Establishing paternity
- Establishing or adjusting parenting time and custody arrangements
- Enforcing orders from the court
Acting quickly after your spouse resurfaces is important because it gives you more options. Delays on either side can complicate claims and property division, so schedule a confidential consultation now to stay ahead of things.
Trust Hand & Toker with Your NJ Divorce
A spouse you can’t locate won’t keep me married in New Jersey, but you must do your due diligence. The court can grant your divorce by default and close this chapter of your life, but they can’t tell you which steps to take before or after you file. We can.
Hand & Toker Family Law makes sure nothing gets missed, and no deadlines slip past. If your spouse is nowhere to be found and you want a divorce, call us to discuss your situation and see how our divorce attorneys can help.