How Do I Serve Divorce Papers from Abroad?

Your spouse may have made matters more complicated if they followed up the major decision to get a divorce with the drastic, permanent move to an international country. Well, the good news is that you may still be able to handle this all from your home state of Tennessee, so long as you have been a resident for at least six months immediately beforehand. But the complexity may come with getting this divorce paperwork into your spouse’s hands. Please read on to discover how to serve divorce papers while your spouse is abroad and how one of the proficient Clarksville divorce lawyers at Fendley and Birch can guide you through international legal procedures and more.

How do I serve divorce papers while my spouse is living abroad?

First things first, you should file your divorce petition with your local Tennessee family court. From here, you may go about serving your spouse with the appropriate divorce paperwork. If they are currently living abroad, the primary means of accomplishing this may be through the Hauge Service Convention.

This designated central authority may have this paperwork officially served on your behalf. You may just need your lawyer to assist you with translating specific forms first. However, if your spouse is not living in a member country of the Hague Service Convention, you may need to explore one of the following alternative methods:

• You may use the United States embassy or consulate in your spouse’s home country to assist in serving the paperwork.
• You may ask your local Tennessee family court to send a Letters Rogatory to the court in your spouse’s home country.
• You may hire a private process server who resides in your spouse’s home country to serve the paperwork in person.
• You may get the court’s permission to serve your spouse by publishing a notice in a newspaper in their home country.

Can I get my spouse to waive the formal service of divorce papers?

Even though your spouse may have abruptly packed up their life to a foreign country upon your separation, you may have ended on good terms. Further, you may agree on the outcome you wish to accomplish with your final divorce judgment (i.e., you are trying for an uncontested divorce process). Under these circumstances, the hassle of serving them with divorce papers while abroad may become quite unnecessary.

That is, you may consider asking your spouse if they are willing to sign a waiver of service. This is a legal document in which your spouse would agree to voluntarily accept your divorce paperwork without service conducted by a process server, but rather through more informal methods like certified mail or email. Essentially, in returning this waiver, your spouse acknowledges their receipt of all the necessary forms. In the end, this may save you both a great deal of time and money, better spent elsewhere.

For further legal assistance, please hire one of the talented Clarksville family lawyers from Fendley and Birch. Schedule your initial consultation with us today, and see just how much we can do for you.