Can I do a summons by publication in lieu of having notice served by the court?
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Can I do a summons by publication in lieu of having notice served by the court?
I live in 1 county and my wife lives in another county but I don’t know where.
Asked on August 20, 2011 Georgia
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
In all states in this country service of a summons and complaint can be accomplished by way of publication if due diligence in trying to ascertain the location of a defendant fails to ascertain his or her place of location.
To establish due diligence, a search through the register of voters or motor vehicle department in a state where the defendant is believed to reside is required as well as attempts showing diligent searches to locate the person usually through some paid back ground search through a third party.
If the above is attempted without any success, you would then file a petition with the court where the lawsuit is venued asking for publication of the summons and complaint in an established newspaper. Your declaration must show what attempts were done to locate your wife and how the attempts were not successful.
If the court agrees with your petition, there will be an order issued for publication of the summons and complaint to be run for so many consecutive weeks in the stated newspaper in the court order.
Good luck.
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