Can someone file for a divorce without the other party's knowledge or signature?

If one spouse does not know the whereabouts of the other spouse, a petition for dissolution of marriage can be filed with the court and served by publication on the spouse whose whereabouts are unknown.  Service by publication is running a notice of the petition for dissolution of marriage in the legal notices section of a newspaper for a specific period of time which varies from state to state.  Service by publication is effective even if the other spouse never sees the notice in the legal notices section of the newspaper and therefore does not file a timely response with the court.