Whenever you initiate a divorce in Texas, you must properly serve the other party with notice of the lawsuit. In Texas, that means that you need to get the other party personally served or they need to voluntarily sign a “Waiver of Service”.
If your spouse won’t sign the Waiver of Service or you don’t want to wait for them to sign a waiver, then you need to have them served. That means that either a sheriff or a process server is going to go and hand them the papers. Sometimes it can be difficult to physically serve your spouse, ex, or former partner with the lawsuit papers. This can be because they are evading service such as they are refusing to answer the door or refusing to make contact with the process server. Other times, this can be caused because you don’t know where your spouse is or what routine they normally follow. So, if this happens, then your next option is to get permission to serve them in another way other than them being physically handed the papers. One option is to post it to the front door of their residence. Another option is to put a notification in the newspaper. To be able to use either of those options, you have to get permission from the court. When you hire a San Antonio divorce attorney he or she will be able to go through those options with you and help you more fully understand the process.
Recently, a New York judge permitted a wife to serve her husband with the papers via Facebook. While this hasn’t happened in Texas yet, it wouldn’t be surprising if we head that way as well. When you think about it, more people check their Facebook account than they read the newspaper. So, while it sounds outrageous that someone could be served in Facebook, it may be a better option than posting it in a newspaper. Each case is going to be different, and Texas may or may not do what New York did, but as things develop you can rest assured that the best San Antonio divorce attorneys are keeping an eye out if this happens.