Monday, December 28, 2009

How does a non-military spouse in a divorce case serve the Complaint on the service member spouse in England?

If a wife of a man serving in the US Air Force (stationed in England) has separated from her husband and is now residing stateside where they used to reside, wants a divorce from her husband, how does she obtain service of process of the Complaint for Divorce on her husband in England?How does a non-military spouse in a divorce case serve the Complaint on the service member spouse in England?
This is tricky. There is something called a soldiers and sailors relief act that makes things difficult if they're overseas. If they are deployed, this act, from what I understand, prevents the spouse from filing for divorce until the return (personally, I agree with this).





Here's some more info about it:


http://document-do-it-yourself-service.c鈥?/a>How does a non-military spouse in a divorce case serve the Complaint on the service member spouse in England?
As all others are telling you you need legal advice.





Contact your Legal services in the military. You are still his wife they will point you in the right Direction and you will then be able to retain a lawyer who specializes in this. Your case is not as uncommon as you think. They will ensure all relevant paperwork goes immediately to his command and believe me he will get this.





Remember that you will be divorcing your husband under USA law and conditions NOT UK.





A British divorce lawyer will not be able to help you on their own and if you go through with this you could end up dealing with three sets of Lawyers. UK lawyers liaising with your USA lawyers and your spouses lawyers.





Good luck
You may find that you're not able to do this until he returns home. The Soldier/Sailor Civil Relief Act does provide some protection for service members serving overseas in that they may not be taken to court until they return and can represent themselves. There are some time vital cases where judges have decided that getting on with the lawsuit is more important that the military member being present but that is mostly in child custody cases where they felt drawing the uncertainty out for months wasn't in the best interest of the child. But really, the best answer is going to come from a lawyer versed in both the military rules and divorce.
Go through your civilian lawyer. They will do all the leg work on getting your spouse served with the papers.





You don't have to do anything except let your lawyer know where he is stationed.
Contact your on base ombudsman and they can walk you through it.
This is an extremely complicated area...ask your civilian attorney, not a chat board.





BOB: How come we both said the same thing and I got a thumbs down? LMAO
call JAG, even if they can;t present you, I am sure they can point you int he right direction

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