Once you’ve completed and reviewed your divorce documents, make two extra copies of the entire packet and take the originals and copies to the courthouse for filing. Make sure you take a cashier’s check or cash (whichever your court accepts) to cover the cost of the filing fees. Wait for the court clerk to file stamp and return at least one set of file stamped copies to you.

After your divorce documents have been filed, review your court rules and state laws to determine which documents must be served on your husband. In many states a copy of the Petition or Complaint for Divorce, Legal Separation or Annulment must be served with a Summons, a blank Response and various other documents. Gather the necessary legal forms and prepare them for service.

Because service of the legal pleadings is critical to the success and outcome of your legal action, it is best to hire a process server or sheriff to hand deliver the divorce packet and provide you with a signed Proof of Service. The Proof of Service must set forth the date and time the documents were served on your husband along with the name and position of the server.

If you don’t know where your husband is, research your state’s laws to determine what you must do to prove to the court that you tried, but could not locate your husband in order to serve him. For example, you may be required to publish information in a statewide newspaper for a predetermined number of days in the county or city of your husband’s last known address. If your husband is stationed overseas, you may ask military authorities to serve your legal documents. This may be done through the “duty post” or the Legal Assistance office on the military base. The Service Member’s Civil Relief Act of 2003 (SCRA), however, protects the legal interests of service men and allows a temporary “stay” to be placed on divorce proceedings while a service member is on active duty and 60 days thereafter. This means that if your husband will be in Iraq for another three months, your divorce may be put on hold until 60 days after he returns to the United States.

For those of you who missed our last four divorce tips, which will help you walk through the divorce process from A to Z, you can find them here: 1. Pre-Divorce Research, 2. Pre-Divorce Financial Planning 3. Making the Decision to Divorce 4. Separation, Annulment or Divorce 5. Putting Pen to Paper.

This is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney if you have legal questions that relate to your specific divorce. Technorati Tags: divorce tip weekly legal forms documents Petition Complaint Summons Legal Separation Annulment service serving serve Starting divorce process divorcing get divorced marriage relationship women woman law