After you file a petition to end your marriage, Georgia divorce law requires that your spouse receive personal notification.
As a rule, the papers must be handed over to your spouse personally. A private trial attorney or the sheriff’s office can deliver the papers in person for a fee. If you don’t know where your spouse is, you may also be able to tell by posting it in a newspaper.
If your spouse is willing to cooperate, you can avoid the process of serving a notification. You do this by having your spouse sign an acknowledgment of receipt and filing it with the court.
If you cannot locate your spouse, you can serve service by posting it with court approval. This is the publication of a notice in a newspaper.
Your spouse has 30 days to respond after the paperwork is served (or 60 days if living outside of Georgia but still in the US). If your spouse does not respond, the court can initiate a standard divorce and grant the motions you have made in the divorce papers.
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