In some cases, people want to get divorced but they don’t actually know where their spouse is located. They are unsure how to serve the divorce petition.
This sometimes happens in cases of abandonment. For instance, maybe you and your spouse got married in Florida 10 years ago, but they left your family and you haven’t seen them in five years. They could live anywhere in the United States or abroad for all that you know. You certainly still want to get a divorce, so what should you do if you don’t know where your spouse is and you can’t present them with the paperwork?
Constructive service
In Florida, you can use a last-resort tactic known as constructive service. Essentially, this is similar to filing a divorce by publication. You can publish a notice alerting your spouse to the fact that you want to get divorced, and this can satisfy the requirement.
As noted, this is usually considered a last resort and the courts will not authorize it in all situations. You do need to attempt to locate your spouse. You will have to provide their last known address, for instance. You need to show that you “made a very serious effort” to find them.
In other words, the court doesn’t just let you file for divorce by publication because you think it’s going to be faster and easier, or even because you’re trying to avoid conflict and you don’t want to talk to your spouse. But the courts also don’t want people to be trapped in marriages if they don’t know where their spouse is located, so this legal tool can be used to authorize a divorce in these unique cases. This is why it’s so important to understand all of your legal options.