Filing for divorce with an absentee spouse is possible; however, it is a much lengthier process than standard divorce cases. To divorce an absentee spouse, you must first file a motion for alternative service. Through this process, you essentially request permission from the court to pursue alternative means of serving your divorce petition.
To get this permission granted, you must first be able to prove you have performed due diligence and exhausted every avenue for locating your spouse’s whereabouts. Once your motion is approved, you may serve your divorce petition to your spouse via publication, meaning you can print the divorce petition in the newspaper.
Your court order for doing so will also specify how many times the legal notice must run in the paper in order to be considered sufficient. Once the legal notice has run its course, you will need to wait an additional statutory period until the courts grant you a divorce by default.