Navigating Divorce When Your Ex is Overseas
I’ve been separated for a long period of time and filed for divorce but my ex has moved out of the country. Can I still get divorced here? I’m James Wirth, an attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma and that’s the question that we received and the answer is you should be able to. Don’t see any reason why you can’t.
The fact that the other party is residing out of the country for jurisdiction for divorce in Oklahoma, one party needs to be a resident here. It doesn’t require that both parties be a resident if you’re just trying to get divorced. Also, it sounds like you filed the divorce previously. So if you filed that divorce prior to the moving out of the country, then jurisdiction is established upon the filing of that petition.
Overcoming Service Challenges
So as long as everybody was residing where they needed to at that time, that’s the relevant time period. The fact that somebody moved later, even if both parties moved later, jurisdiction is still proper where it was originally filed. And then the fact that they’re out of the country, that makes it difficult perhaps to get service on them, but it doesn’t make it impossible.
There should always be a way to get service. You want to do your due diligence to see if you can get actual notice through a process server or through certified mail or through other means, but if all else fails and you complete due diligence, you demonstrate that to the court and the court should give you the authority to do service by publication.
Pushing Forward with the Divorce
In any case, you shouldn’t be held up just based on service if you’re actually trying to get them served. And the fact that it may be difficult for them to appear in court, that’s not grounds to get this case for divorce dismissed. Ultimately, you’re entitled to push forward with that. So you shouldn’t have problems getting that done. But if you do, obviously, you’re going to want an attorney.
Schedule a Consultation
And for this specific circumstances, here, you’re probably going to want to talk to an attorney in private to get legal advice for your situation before you move forward with that. To get that scheduled with an attorney at my office, you can go online to makelaweasy.com. Take the first step towards resolving your divorce situation today.
