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serve divorce papers in UK???

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jodi_barracloug

Junior Member
TEXAS
We have filed a motion to modify custody here in Texas but the mother now lives in the UK. We have her home address and work address but my attorney isn't positive on how to get my husbands ex served. Do we use a PI ?? Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to accomplish this. Also this motion will be files on Monday. What happens after it is filed? Do we get a court date right then? Do we get a court date once she has been served? What is the procees to expect once he files?

Thank you
 
Last edited:


BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
jodi_barracloug said:
TEXAS
We have filed a motion to modify custody here in Texas but the mother now lives in the UK. We have her home address and work address but my attorney isn't positive on how to get my husbands ex served. Do we use a PI ?? Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to accomplish this. Also this motion will be files on Monday. What happens after it is filed? Do we get a court date right then? Do we get a court date once she has been served? What is the procees to expect once he files?

Thank you
YOu either need to tell your attorney to get off his/her lazy ass or find another attorney.

Service by International Registered or Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested is very easy and usually takes a month or less.

If personal service is what you want then it is a bit more complicated.

The U.K. and the U.S. are parties to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, 28 U.S.C.A. Appendix following Rule 4, F.R.CV.P.; VII Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, Volume VII (Selected International Conventions); 20 U.S.T. 361; T.I.A.S. 6638.

To obtain personal service in the U.K. under the Convention, the documents to be served should be appended to the Convention request form . A preprinted request form is available from the U.S. Marshals Service. Ask for form No. USM 94. The British Central Authorities require that the court in the United States be the applicant for service under the Convention. Therefore, the court must be shown as the applicant and the requesting authority on the USM 94 and the clerk of court must sign the form. There is no fee required. Send form and documents (in duplicate) to the appropriate central authority:

Central authority for England and Wales

Senior Master of the Supreme Court
Queen''s Bench Division
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand London WC2A 2LL, England, U.K.

Central Authority for Scotland

By a Note of 21 March 2000, the British Government notified that, with effect from 1 April 2000, the designated authority for Scotland will be:

The Scottish Executive Justice Department
Civil Justice and International Division
Hayweight House
23 Lauriston Street
Edinburgh, EH3 9DQ
Telephone: +44.131.221.6815
Fax: +44.131.221.6894

American Consular Officers are prohibited from serving judicial documents in civil cases. (22 C.F.R 92.85-92.) However, the U.K. allows local solicitors to serve process. A list of solicitors may be obtained from:

Europe and Canada Division
Office of American Citizens Services
Room 4817
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520-4818

Phone: (202) 647-6178
 

jodi_barracloug

Junior Member
Serve papers UK cerified mail?

If you just send it certified mail how do you guarantee she actually receives it?? What if her husband signed for the papers and neglected to give them to her. I guess I just always thought personal service was a requirement. To speed tings up I could next day certfied mail the papers to her?? Is that the way you would do it? We are in a time crunch so I'm trying to find the fastest way to get her served.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
jodi_barracloug said:
If you just send it certified mail how do you guarantee she actually receives it??
There are no guarantees in life.
What if her husband signed for the papers and neglected to give them to her.
Then she is served and is pissed at hubby.
I guess I just always thought personal service was a requirement.
You thought wrong.
To speed tings up I could next day certfied mail the papers to her??
That's what the treaty says.
Is that the way you would do it?
I would fly to London, contact a college buddy of mine who is a solicitor in the Thames region and let him handle it.
We are in a time crunch so I'm trying to find the fastest way to get her served.
that's a personal decision.
 

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