Can You Hide to Stop Your Divorce in Minnesota?
November 14, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingIf you know that your spouse will be sending divorce papers, can you hide from the process server to keep the divorce from happening?
You may be tempted to try it, but in Minnesota, this tactic simply won’t work. In fact, attempting it could even make things worse for you.
If your spouse makes every reasonable effort to locate you, then he or she may use an “alternative method” for serving you the divorce papers. It will take a little longer because he or she will need a court order to do so, but eventually you could find yourself being “served by publication,” which means the petition will simply be published in a local paper.
If you’re busy hiding you might not even realize this has happened. This means you could run out of time to file an Answer to the Summons and Complaint.
You may lose your chance at having any say in the major issues of your divorce, issues such as child custody, child support, parenting time, spousal support, and the division of assets. Once a default judgment of divorce is entered, the court will typically determine the major issues of divorce exactly as your spouse requested, because you took no part in the decision.
Hiding won’t help you reconcile with your spouse, either, if that is what you truly desire. There are routes you can take to make this attempt, but all of them involve facing the situation head-on.
And if divorce is inevitable, your best option is also going to be to face the situation head-on. Work with a qualified divorce attorney to make your post-divorce reality as livable as possible.