It is a common misconception that if a person seeking a divorce doesn’t know where her spouse is, she can simply serve him by publishing notice in a newspaper and then have a judge grant her a default divorce decree ON ALL ISSUES.The rules governing service of process by publication in family cases (divorce, paternity, support, etc.) are found in Rule 41 M. and Rule 42 D. of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. These rules specifically provide that service by publication is not sufficient when the issues involved in the case include paternity, child support, spousal maintenance, division of assets, and most other financial issues. In a divorce case, this means that if service is by publication, the court will generally ONLY be able to dissolve the marriage and decide custody of the children–nothing more.If all a person wants is a divorce and/or a child custody order, and if the person doesn’t care about getting court orders dividing assets, awarding money payments, and so on, service by publication MAY be permitted by the court, but only as a last resort. Judges generally won’t accept service by publication unless a person can demonstrate that he made exhaustive efforts to locate his spouse before turning to service by publication. A party to a divorce must comply with many specific requirements relative to the service by publication, and it is best to consult with an experienced family law attorney before attempting service by publication.
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