Are you trying to file for a divorce in Connecticut, but you don’t know where your spouse lives? Many people assume they cannot move forward with a divorce if their spouse cannot be located. Fortunately, Connecticut law provides a process that allows you to proceed even if your spouse’s whereabouts are unknown.
I’m Matt Dolan with Dolan Divorce Lawyers, the largest divorce and family law firm in Connecticut, and in this article, I’ll explain how you can get a Connecticut divorce when you cannot locate your spouse.
Before asking the court for permission to use alternative methods of service for divorce, you must first make a good-faith effort to locate your spouse. Some common steps include:
Connecticut courts want to see that you have made reasonable attempts to locate your spouse before allowing alternative service to proceed with your divorce options.
If you still cannot locate your spouse after making reasonable efforts, you can ask the Connecticut court for permission to serve them using non-traditional methods.
Normally, in a divorce, your spouse must be served by a state marshal who either:
If you don’t know where they live, those traditional service methods are obviously impossible. In that situation, you must file Connecticut Judicial Branch Form JD-FM-167, which is called a Motion for Order of Notice in Family Cases.
Under Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-46 and Practice Book § 25-28, if the whereabouts of the other party are unknown, a judge or clerk can order any form of notice they believe is reasonable.
In many cases, the court will order service by publication. Historically, this meant placing a notice in a newspaper. Today, in most Connecticut divorce cases, the notice of the search for your spouse is posted on the Connecticut Judicial Branch website for a specified period of time (typically about one week).
As long as the notice remains posted for the court-ordered time period, your spouse is considered legally served, even if they never actually see it. In some cases, judges will order service by email instead.
For example, if you have previously emailed your spouse and they have responded—but refuse to tell you where they live—the judge may determine that email service is more likely to give them actual notice of the divorce than publication.
Once you comply with the court’s order of notice to attempt to find your spouse, you can move forward with what is called a default divorce in Connecticut. A default divorce means that your spouse does not appear in the case, and the court proceeds based on the information and requests you provide.
You will submit proposed orders addressing issues such as:
If the judge determines that your proposed orders are fair and equitable under Connecticut law, the court can approve them and finalize the divorce, even without your spouse’s participation.
While a default divorce can be an effective solution, it is not always the best approach. If you believe your spouse may have significant assets that you do not know about, it may make sense to try harder to locate them before finalizing the divorce. A court cannot divide assets that it does not know exist. In some cases, people choose to:
These additional steps to locate your spouse before pursuing divorce in Connecticut may help ensure that all marital assets are identified and properly divided.
Getting a divorce in Connecticut when you cannot locate your spouse can feel complicated, but the legal system does provide a path forward. At Dolan Divorce Lawyers, we regularly help clients navigate situations like this. As the largest divorce and family law firm in Connecticut, our attorneys focus exclusively on divorce and family law matters and have extensive experience guiding clients through the Connecticut court process.
If you have questions about serving a missing spouse, filing for divorce, or pursuing a default divorce in Connecticut, feel free to contact our office to discuss your situation.
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