My husband relapsed (drug addiction) 4 days ago. I told him I didn’t want him in the house and when he came home the day after he relapsed he voluntarily took some clothes and said he was going to a hotel. He said he was going to stay in hotels or his car. I have no idea where he is or if he’s even safe. He was robbed earlier this week and I know getting robbed and shot are a possibility. I try not to think about the worst possibility. I told him I don’t want to be married to him anymore, I have to protect our daughter, she’s 15. She wants nothing to do with him. Can I file even if his location is unknown?
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I think you can still file for divorce even if you don’t know where he is. There’s something called service by publication where you can run an ad in the newspaper if you can’t find him. Has anyone tried to reach out to his family?
@Catherine
I’ve heard of service by publication, but I’m not totally sure how it works. Do you just have to post a notice in the newspaper for a certain amount of time?
Darcy said:
@Catherine
I’ve heard of service by publication, but I’m not totally sure how it works. Do you just have to post a notice in the newspaper for a certain amount of time?
Yeah, exactly! You’d need to show you’ve tried other ways to find him, like contacting family, friends, or looking online. Then you can ask the court to let you post the notice for three weeks in the local newspaper.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I think the court might also allow you to get temporary custody of your daughter while you wait for the divorce stuff to go through. I’ve heard that’s a common thing when there’s safety concerns like with drugs. Maybe look into getting an Order of Protection too?
@EmmanuelBrown
I didn’t even think about that, but yeah, with the drug issues, it might be good to get that protection for us. Thank you for the suggestion!
I’m not sure if this helps, but my friend had a similar situation. She filed for divorce even though her husband was missing, and it went through. The court can proceed with things like custody and support even if he doesn’t show up.
@Zaria
Wow, that’s really helpful info. I had no idea the court could keep going without his response. It sounds like they really try to protect the person filing in these cases.
I can’t imagine how tough this situation is for you. If your husband is still missing, you might want to try checking social media or even asking people he knows. Sometimes people will pop up in places you wouldn’t expect.
@Jesse
Yeah, I’ve been trying, but he’s really good at disappearing. I’ll keep looking though. Thanks for the support.
I’m glad the legal advice helped! But I just want to say, you’re doing the right thing by protecting your daughter. Keep being strong and reach out to a lawyer for the next steps. You got this.
vevosmile said:
I’m glad the legal advice helped! But I just want to say, you’re doing the right thing by protecting your daughter. Keep being strong and reach out to a lawyer for the next steps. You got this.
Thank you so much. It feels good to have some direction now. I’ll keep moving forward for my daughter’s sake.