3 Ways You Can Serve Your Spouse During California Divorce | California Divorce

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

 

3 Ways You Can Serve Your Spouse During California Divorce

Going through a divorce can be tough, and the process can often feel overwhelming. One of the key steps in any divorce is serving your spouse with the divorce papers. It’s a common misconception that you must personally serve these documents. In this post, we’ll explore three effective methods to serve your spouse during a divorce in California, focusing on how to keep things as amicable as possible.

Understanding Service of Process

When you file for divorce in California, one of the first things you must do is serve your spouse with the divorce papers. This is a legal requirement and ensures that your spouse is informed of the divorce proceedings. Proper service of process is crucial; failure to do so can lead to complications down the road.

Method 1: Personal Service

Personal service involves having someone deliver the divorce papers directly to your spouse. While this method is widely recognized, it is not always necessary, especially in amicable situations. However, if you and your spouse are starting from a contentious place, personal service might be the way to go. This method requires that the documents be served by someone who is at least 18 years old and not involved in the divorce.

In most cases, personal service is not our first choice. We typically reserve this method for situations where the other party is uncooperative. If you find yourself in a high-conflict divorce, personal service can be a last resort, but it’s best to try to keep things civil whenever possible.

Method 2: Service by Mail

The second method, which is often more suitable for amicable cases, is service by mail. Here’s how it works: you can have a friend or a relative mail the divorce papers to your spouse. Along with the papers, you should include a form known as the Notice of Acknowledgment and Receipt. This form is essential because it serves as proof that your spouse has received the documents.

Once your spouse signs the form acknowledging receipt, they must return it to the sender. You can then file this signed form with the court as proof that you have served your spouse. This method is particularly effective and is how we handle approximately 90% of our amicable divorce cases in California.

Method 3: Certified Mail

If your spouse lives out of state, you can still use the Notice of Acknowledgment and Receipt method. Alternatively, you can send the divorce papers via certified mail with return receipt requested. This means that when the post office delivers the papers, your spouse will sign to acknowledge receipt.

Once you receive the signed receipt back from the post office, you can file this as proof of service with the court. Utilizing certified mail is a reliable way to ensure that your spouse receives the documents, even if they are not in the same state.

Why Personal Service Should Be a Last Resort

It’s vital to understand that serving divorce papers can set the tone for the entire divorce process. If you choose to have your spouse personally served, it can create unnecessary tension and hostility. No one enjoys being served papers, and even if your divorce is amicable, having a process server show up at their workplace or home can be jarring.

Whenever possible, aim for methods that promote cooperation and understanding. By choosing mail or certified mail, you can avoid the discomfort that often accompanies personal service. Remember, the goal is to keep the process as smooth and amicable as possible.

Conclusion

In conclusion, serving your spouse during a divorce in California doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By understanding the different methods available—personal service, service by mail, and certified mail—you can choose the best approach for your situation. Always consider the nature of your relationship with your spouse when deciding how to serve them, as the method you choose can significantly impact the divorce process.

Whether you are navigating an amicable divorce or a more contentious one, it’s crucial to follow the proper procedures to ensure everything is handled legally and respectfully. If you have questions or need assistance with your divorce, don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional who can guide you through the process.

 

How To Serve California Divorce Papers

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

In this article (and video) we are discussing how to serve divorce papers in California.  This would be the next step in the divorce process in California after you have completed and filed your summons and petition.  If you have not prepared your divorce papers yet, go back to this article and watch step one on how to complete your summons and petition.

In this series of videos we are discussing how to prepare your divorce forms or going through the divorce process in its entirety per California court website, we’re essentially just going form by form and discussing each of the forms.

If you are attempting to complete your own divorce Make Sure To Use Our Automated Divorce Software or call us for our full service divorce solution where we will take care of everything for you.

In the previous video we talked about the initial forms to file for divorce, the summons and petition; we’ve also prepared videos to discuss exactly how to fill them out step-by-step.

This video is going to be discussing in serving of the forms. So, let’s take a look at the court website and look at what they consider to be step two of the divorce process which is service of the forms.

Below is a transcript of the video.

So what they’re saying here is that someone 18 or older and not the petitioner, so not you or the person who’s filed in the initial paperwork serves the paper work on the other party which is now, from here on out going to be called the respondent.

You file, or you serve rather, those documents along with a blank FL-120 form, which is a response form. Whenever you file, or whenever you serve documents, generally you’ll have to serve it with a blank copy of what they’re supposed to file in response to what you’ve filed.

We’ll talk about that in other videos. So, let’s talk about the two different forms of service. Now, when I work with clients, generally these are clients that are representing themselves; they don’t have an attorney, and they are generally uncontested matters, which means both parties are mostly in agreement or they’re going to use the court system to help them get them get through the process, either through the facilitator’s office or the mediators office.

But they’re not going to use attorneys; they’re going to kinda work it out on their own, and I’ll prepare the divorce paperwork for both parties.

So that said, there are two different types of service. The process of service of getting the forms served is what will initiate the divorce process, because technically you can file for divorce, never serve it, and the courts will never know what’s going on; so once you’ve served the forms that’s what will start the divorce process essentially, and that’s when the six-month waiting period begins.

It’s when that form is served. So it’s important that this is done correctly. I’ve spoken with clients who have gone, what they thought, all the way through the divorce process, but they never filed some of these crucial documents, so let’s talk about them now.

We’re going to talk about the FL-115. The FL-115 is the proof of service of summons. This is a specific form that you will file with the court if you are gonna have a third party serve the paperwork on your spouse.

So let’s say you filed the paperwork, got that paperwork back from the courts, now you’re going to have your adult son, or a neighbor hand this paperwork to your spouse. And so what you’ll do is that person will fill out their name and address here, phone number, okay, all the same court information is going to go on here like it did on the summons and petition on the previous videos; street address of the court, mailing address of the court, city, branch, name, you’re the petitioner, the respondent’s name.

At this point you’ll have your case number so make sure you indicate that here. And what you’re gonna say that here that you filed the Family Law petition FL-100. Summons FL-110, and a blank response, and there’s FL-120. You can get these forms online or give me a call if you have to provide it for you.

And the party who serves them, so your neighbor, adult child or whoever you have to serve this paperwork, is going to fill this out. You’re gonna hand this to them and they’re going to have the forms to your spouse, and then they’re going to type in here or hand out in here, where they were served, that is was done by a personal service, on what date at what time.

And page 2, they are going to go down here and say that that the notice of the person served was done as an individual, and the name of the person you served will go here, their address, their phone number, you’re gonna say they’re not a registered process server, due to most cases they won’t be, then they’re gonna date it, then they’re gonna sign it.

Now, this is important that this form is filed, this is not given to the other party; you’re gonna hand the divorce paperwork to your spouse, this form needs to get filed with the court to notify them that in fact, the other party has been served.

Now, in uncontested divorce cases, where let’s say you and you’re spouse are mostly in an agreement, you’re going to go forward in cooperation to the divorce process, what I like to do is attempt to do an alternate method of service, which kinda keeps things from heating up; no one like being handed paper from someone they don’t know, saying you’ve been served, which is this process here.

So, what we’re gonna discuss is this alternate method of service, called notice and acknowledgement of receipt. This is an alternate proof of service where you and the other party, so your spouse, simply sign a form acknowledging the fact that they’ve been served.

So instead of them being handed paperwork and being told they are being served divorce paperwork, you can literally, this is technically supposed to be mailed from another party, so where I’m working with both husband and wife, I’ll get the papers back from the court, I’ll mail this to the other spouse with a letter indicating that if they sign this they don’t have a process server come out, it takes money.

So you fill this out for them,and I’ll indicate the form’s again, just very similar to the other form, there’s petition, summons, and a blank response is on here. So you can send this to them, I would date this, then I’d put my name, then send this; and then the spouse being served will simply indicate the date they’ve received it, print their name and sign it.

And this, just like the other form, will be filed with the court. And this is a substitute of service; it’s just as good as serving with a process server. And again this makes it, in trying to keep it uncontested, and keeping the parties talking and cordial as they can be; it is a divorce, so there are gonna be some … this is the form we’ll be likely used.

My name is Tim Blankenship, owner of SCV Legal Doc Assist, licensed and bonded legal document preparation firm, specializing in the divorce process, and we can work with you all throughout California.