In New Jersey, I’m frequently asked, “What can I do if I want to divorce my spouse but I haven’t seen my spouse in a long time and don’t know where my spouse lives? Can I still get a divorce?” The answer is yes, you can. You have to make a good faith attempt to locate the spouse. That generally means using the last known address and the Social Security number and date of birth to do a search to try and find that spouse.
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If you are unable to locate the spouse through a postal search, a motor vehicles search, or a skip trace, the court will allow you to file a motion, which will then grant you the right of having the divorce complaint published in a local newspaper. That would serve as adequate service of the complaint on that particular spouse, and you would be able to then move forward in getting a divorce.
This educational blog post was brought to you by Brian Freeman, an experienced New Jersey Divorce Attorney.
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