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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Posts
    3

    Default Getting a Divorce by Default Without Personal Service on the Other Spouse

    My question involves a marriage in the state of: TEXAS

    I have filed for divorce and served my husband personally and he has defaulted.

    The divorce involves a minor child. I will be named sole managing conservator and he shall have no right to possession or access unless mutually agreed upon in advance (domestic violence with court ordered protection, zero contact with the child for the past 8 years, he has defaulted when I asked for this in my petition, and I have a temp order to this effect already). No support will be ordered due to lack of personal jurisdiction over my soon-to-be-ex according to the UISFA.

    I do not have a lawyer and am writing the final decree myself. There's only one point I'm really hung up on:

    The TX family code says that the final decree must include personal information for all parties including SSN, Driver lisence number, home address, etc. in any suit affecting the parent-child relationship.

    Ex has been basically MIA for the past 7/8 years. I do not have any of his personal information beyond a mailing address (his sister's address). He has been wholly uncooperative with giving me any information. (No idea why, so please don't ask me.) I haven't had any luck finding it on my own so far.

    It seems that the court either wants to order him to give his personal information and keep it current OR they want to decide that he would be in danger if he did.

    Q: Can they order him to do this without personal jurisdiction over him?

    I just don't know how to word the final decree if they can. As it stands I just put what little information I have and stated the rest as unknown and put the required warning, "EACH PERSON WHO IS A PART TO THIS ORDER IS ORDERED TO NOTIFY EVERY OTHER PARTY, THE COURT, AND THE STATE CHILD SUPPORT REGISTRY OF ANY CHANGE IN THE PARTY’S: [personal information]..."

    The way it is worded sounds like it is his responsibility to provide this information. Could I have the decree signed as-is (without all of his information) and then just let him deal with complying with the order by supplying the information after the fact? Or will I not be able to get divorced without knowing all of his personal information first....because that would be a real problem....

    These are the options in my mind:
    -The court can not order him to provide his personal information without personal jurisdiction over him and this should be left out of the final decree altogether.
    -The court can order him to provide his personal information. I should provide what I know and leave the rest in his hands once the decree is signed by the judge and the order goes into effect.
    -The court can order him to provide his information AND it needs to be part of the final decree in order for the judge to sign it.

    Does anyone know what to do here?
    (Please don't say hire a lawyer. I can't afford one and have been turned down for legal aid twice.)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Spouse's Personal Information (Ssn, Dl, Etc.) Needed to Get Divorced

    You can probably get a judge to sign off on it without the rest of his personal information if you discuss the problem in a hearing with the judge. However, if you ever filed a joint tax return and can locate a copy of said return you may be able to come up with his SSN.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    1,421

    Default Re: Spouse's Personal Information (Ssn, Dl, Etc.) Needed to Get Divorced

    Unless there is personal jurisdiction, the court does NOT have jurisdiction to determine the divorce. So they have to have personal jurisdiction.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Spouse's Personal Information (Ssn, Dl, Etc.) Needed to Get Divorced

    Quote Quoting Ohiogal
    View Post
    Unless there is personal jurisdiction, the court does NOT have jurisdiction to determine the divorce. So they have to have personal jurisdiction.
    Thank you for your response.

    I was under the impression that the court would need personal jurisdiction to make orders regarding support or regarding division of property/debt (of which there is nothing to divide), but that the court might exercise partial jurisdiction in matters which it only needs subject jurisdiction to decide - namely the divorce itself as well as custody. This was told to me by more than one lawyer (on some ask-a-lawyer site...). I also came across this in the law books:

    TEXAS FAMILY CODE
    TITLE 1. THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP
    SUBTITLE C. DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
    CHAPTER 6. SUIT FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
    SUBCHAPTER D. JURISDICTION, VENUE, AND RESIDENCE QUALIFICATIONS

    "Sec. 6.308. EXERCISING PARTIAL JURISDICTION. (a) A court in which a suit for dissolution of a marriage is filed may exercise its jurisdiction over those portions of the suit for which it has authority.
    (b) The court's authority to resolve the issues in controversy between the parties may be restricted because the court lacks:
    (1) the required personal jurisdiction over a nonresident party in a suit for dissolution of the marriage;
    (2) the required jurisdiction under Chapter 152; or [UCCJEA]
    (3) the required jurisdiction under Chapter 159. [UISFA]"

    This seems to imply that the court can grant a divorce although it may have limited power to do anything else that usually is addressed in a divorce. Otherwise what would it mean to have partial but restricted jurisdiction in a divorce that lacks personal jurisdiction over one party? In addition:

    "Sec. 6.301. GENERAL RESIDENCY RULE FOR DIVORCE SUIT. A suit for divorce may not be maintained in this state unless at the time the suit is filed either the petitioner or the respondent [my emphasis] has been:
    (1) a domiciliary of this state for the preceding six-month period; and
    (2) a resident of the county in which the suit is filed for the preceding 90-day period."


    I realize the above may not preclude there being something elsewhere that states that personal jurisdiction is necessary for a divorce, but I would expect to find it in Subchapter D if it existed. Although, who knows. Law is confusing...

    Can I ask for a source for your statement that a divorce will not be able to be granted?
    Unless I see something in black-and-white in the law books I fully intend to go before the Judge with a final decree for him to sign. The worst that could happen is my request being denied.

    Quote Quoting llworking
    View Post
    You can probably get a judge to sign off on it without the rest of his personal information if you discuss the problem in a hearing with the judge. However, if you ever filed a joint tax return and can locate a copy of said return you may be able to come up with his SSN.
    Thanks for responding,

    The last tax return I filed that might have his SSN on it was in 2007, and no, I don't have a copy. I looks like it would cost $50 to order one AND the request form asks me for his SSN. Ha.

    Hopefully the judge will be understanding.

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