Good afternoon, my father is 85 yrs. old and his wife of five years abandoned him last August 2011. According to Social Security, she is receiving $350.00 a month and SS will not tell him where the check is going in the U.S.A. or the Philippines. Can he divorce her even if he does not know where she is? Does the divorce papers have to be served to her in person or does he have to file special documents? He get $493 from the VA Admin. and $293.00 from Social security. Thank you.Royalene
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): California Already Tried: He tried to get free legal advice and was told to take a bus from L.A. to Santa Monica, CA. I work from 7 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. I have tried calling a lawyer and they want to charge him $150./hr. and he is retired. Thank you.
Thank you for posting your question to JA/Pearl. Legal questions often take time for research or I may be offline so please be patient, I will reply.I am very sorry to hear of his situation. He can divorce her in California. While he will have to try to find and serve her, the court will allow him to serve her by publication if she cannot be found. The family law facilitator at the local courthouse can assist with how to get permission to serve by publication. The only problem is that is fairly expensive. Here are all of the forms and instructions for filing for a divorce. You can probably handle filling out all of the forms for him. http://www.courts.ca.gov/1033.htmor this site may be a little clearer on the process and instructionshttp://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/page?_pageid=55,1524222&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTALBest wishes to you and your father.
Experience: Actively practicing trial attorney
Ok, thanks. Would I be able to serve documents to her relatives' home where she would stay in CA since it is fairly expensive to get permission to serve by publication?
I doubt that would be acceptable to the court since that is not her actual residence.