Divorcing someone who live abroad…
Navigating through the divorce process is difficult enough already. You need to file the Petition. You need to perform discovery. You need to figure out all the different deadlines. Now, imagine your spouse does not live in the United States! Can you hand the documents to the other person the same way as you would in the United States?
Unfortunately, the answer is probably not.
When you serve someone who resides in Texas, or another state in the United States, you typically would use a local deputy or process server to hand someone that document. This is called getting the person “served” with legal documents. You normally won’t be handing it to the other person yourself, unless that person is willing to sign a “waiver of service.” The main purpose of the “waiver or service” is for the person being served with papers to state that he or she does not require a third party process server and to acknowledge that he or she has, in fact, received the paperwork stated.
However, when you have to serve someone outside of the United States, there may be different protocols that you have to take to help you comply with local government rules and regulations. One of the most important questions you must ask is: Is the person in a country that is part of the Hague Service Convention?
The Hague Service Convention is a treaty which was adopted by many countries in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 15 November 1965. One of the reasons for the treaty is to provide litigants means of serving the legal documents on parties living, operating or based in another country.
It came into existence to give litigants a reliable and efficient means of serving the documents. The provisions in this treaty apply to service of process in civil and commercial matters but not criminal matters. There are also exceptions for those whose address is unknown.
If the party resides in a country that is a member of the Hague Service Convention, you will need to carefully follow the steps and protocols required by that country. Each country may be different from each other, and also different from the service process used here in the United States. Some require you to work with local officials. Some also require you to go through their Ministry of Justice. Not following the Hague Service Convention may result in your case being dismissed due to improper service or failure to properly prosecute. If your case has statute of limitations or other deadlines, you may end up missing those deadlines or allow your statute of limitations to run out (thereby prohibiting you from filing the lawsuit for that matter in the future.)
So, how do you know what you need to do? You can find some information here at the Bureau of Consular Affairs website that may be helpful to you. (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/Judicial-Assistance-Country-Information.html)
When in doubt, you can also check to see if there is a foreign embassy for that country here in the United States. If they do, you may be able to call and find out more information that way.
If you find this confusing, then you should avoid wasting time and money trying to do this on your own. The safest route is to have an experienced attorney assist you with this. Doing this the wrong way may lead to significant delays (months even), and you will likely have to spend more time and money to do it the right way.
The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only. This is not legal advice, and your viewing of this blog does not form any attorney-client relationship.
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