Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Divorced?

My boyfriend has been seperated from his wife for 5 years. When they got married they were only together a year before they seperated. He has been hearing that because they have been seperated for so long his wife may have already filled for divorce and he could very well be divorced and not know it. Is it true that he could be divorced and not know it?


Asked on 2/24/06, 10:04 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Divorced?

It's possible but unlikely. When someone files for divorce, and there are no issues regarding children, property division or alimony, they can "serve" the defendant with the divorce papers by posting a notice in a local newspaper IF they are unaware of the defendant's whereabouts and thus can't send them the papers directly. They must get a court order permitting this kind of procedure after establishing their inability to find the defendant for service. So if this is what happened and your boyfriend didn't see the notice in the paper, and was not in contact with the ex, she could have filed after 2 years of separation under MD law and gotten the divorce by now. If he can't contact her to verify this, he can go to the courthouse where she would have filed and check the court records.

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Answered on 3/02/06, 10:15 am


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