Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

Re: Sheriff's NON EST reply to Per Se lawyer

Hello. If you do nothing now, the Court will do nothing now. Eventually, the Court will schedule a Hearing for you to show cause why your case should not be dismissed for failure to serve the defendant; however, such a hearing may not be scheduled by the Court for months. Why wait? If I were litigating this case, I would not wait for a court date, or for the judge to take action on his own. I would file a Motion (and Brief in Support) For Service by Publiciation now. In the Motion and Brief I would show that you have attempted service at his last known address, that the Sheriff has advised that he is not at that address, that you have taken reasonable steps to find him and that you have been unable to to locate him at any other address. I would attach as Exhibits "A" and "B" the following: "A": A copy of the "non-est" Entry of Service; and "B": A sworn (notarized) affidavit from you stating that you have made a reasonable, but unsuccessful, effort to locate him. At the time that I filed the motion, I would deliver a courtesy copy of the Motion to the Judge to whom the case has been assigned, along with a copy of a (proposed) Order granting the Motion. There is a very good chance that the Judge would sign such an Order right then and there although he or she may decide to hold a hearing to ascertain whether to grant the motion or not - my best guess is that the Judge would simply sign the Order. Once you have the Order in hand you would be entitled to proceed with Service by Publication in the County Organ. Good Luck! Jim Zito ([email protected])

Re: Sheriff's NON EST reply to Per Se lawyer

Non est does NOT always mean you can do publication. In some cases you may need to use a special process server. If you wait until the court date (assuming you can even get one, as most counties won't do one without service), many courts would then dismiss the case. This is really something you should discuss with the attorney in your case.