Serving Divorce Papers on Facebook - Is This Possible?

Facebook – almost everyone uses it – many people use it religiously every day. But can Facebook be a platform for you to serve divorce papers? Lawyer and solicitor Glenn Duker takes a look.

The idea of serving divorce papers through Facebook seems peculiar; after all, Facebook is mostly used as a platform to share information, news, photos and light-hearted material like social events. A serious, and presumably quite personal, matter like serving divorce papers should be dealt with in a more ‘serious’ manner, shouldn’t it? You might be surprised! In the US, a Supreme Court judge recently ruled that a New York woman can serve divorce papers to her former partner via Facebook. This is also possible in Australia as well. 

Social Media – The Modern Means of Communication

In Australia, if one party avoids being served with divorce papers, a Family Court judge will look at other creative ways to notify them, including social media. This is called an Application for Substituted Service.

A lawyer is able to make an application to a judge explaining that one party has avoided being served papers, but are visibly active on Facebook or other social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram. If the judge is satisfied with the evidence provided that the person is regularly using social media, then an order could be made to serve the papers through these channels.

If you have any concern about locating your former partner to serve papers, please get in touch with lawyer and solicitor Glenn Duker for trusted legal advice and strategy at this difficult time.

For more information visit:- https://au.linkedin.com/in/glennduker