Divorce Obtained by Publication Even Though the Plaintiff Knew Defendant's Address
My question involves a dissolution of marriage in the state of: Virginia
[Virginia]
My friend has been in Poland for several months since he non-legally separated with his wife, who is a Virginia resident, and his wife knows his whereabouts, as they maintain ongoing contact through phone and Internet.
She filed for divorce, and she did not disclose that to him, and used service by publication for non-state residents.
Although she knew his current address in Poland, she falsely stated in affidavit required for granting the order of publication that the last known address of his is the address of their marital home which is located in Florida.
As a consequence he wasn't served with a divorce complaint and he is not familiarized with her claims. The court set the date for Tuesday, and he learned about it by accident couple of days ago.
He is not able not be in court or manage to prepare an answer (as he has not seen her complaint) or have it delivered before the court date.
Is there a ground for setting aside the default ruling?
Re: Divorce: [VA] Fraudulent divorce by publication.
Then he needs to hire a lawyer in Virginia TODAY.
If he doesn't want to do that, how about you go to the courthouse, get a copy of the petition, email it to him, have him complete whatever response is necessary, and you deliver it to the court Tuesday.
If that's not possible, all he can do is file to set aside the decree if there is something in it to his detriment. He'll need a lawyer in Virginia to do that anyway.