Part 3 of Amanda Abeyratne’s divorce series: Service and those who avoid it
In some cases, serving a divorce application can be challenging and may cause delays in having your divorce granted if the other party is avoiding service.
Effective service of divorce papers is a necessary step to ensure that your spouse is aware of the proceedings and has the necessary documents to respond.
In a recent matter, we made several attempts on behalf of our client to serve her divorce application on her husband.
Initially, service was attempted through the husband’s lawyer. However, the lawyer was unable to get instructions as to whether he could accept service on his client’s behalf. We then engaged a process server to personally serve the documents at the respondent’s home and workplace to avoid further delay.
The husband actively tried to avoid service and despite making eight attempts, the process server was unable to do so. An affidavit was prepared by the process server detailing their attempts.
Due to these difficulties, we applied to the Court to have the usual requirements for service dispensed with. When service is dispensed with, documents do not need to be delivered by registered post or by hand and can instead be served electronically, such as by text message, email, or social media.
Our application to the Court included evidence of the genuine and repeated attempts to serve the respondent. The Court was satisfied with our efforts and granted the application. We then attempted to serve the documents electronically but unfortunately received no response from the husband.
At the divorce hearing, we informed the Court of our additional efforts. The Court accepted that reasonable attempts had been made and concluded that the husband had likely received, or was aware, of the divorce application. As a result, the Court granted the divorce and made the divorce order.
If, after making all reasonable efforts, you are still unable to serve your spouse, we can guide you through the process. Attempting to do it alone may end up costing you more in the long run.
