Case Histories, Anecdotes, and War Stories 181
Chicago friends saw him once in a while, but no one knew where
he lived. She spent hundreds of dollars in long-distance phone
charges trying to track him down. No luck. I sent certified letters
to every address available—they all came back unclaimed. Finally,
we were forced to hire expensive process servers and investiga-
tors in Chicago to try to locate and serve the elusive fireman. They
camped out day and night at every potential address we had. No
luck. Jeff was apparently a fairly clever guy. He appeared to have
completely vanished.
All the while, the Hawai‘i court was getting impatient. Because
the documents had not been served within the required timelines,
the case stood ready to be automatically dismissed. Needless to
say, this was extremely frustrating for Jesse. Here we were spend-
ing literally thousands of dollars, trying every reasonable method
to find and serve a guy whom she had spent the last five years
trying to get away from. Yet, at the same time, the court was say-
ing, “Get it done or your case gets tossed out.”
After all other options had failed, we were forced to file a motion
for service by publication in the newspapers. This is the last-ditch
method when all other service alternatives have failed. It is also
extremely expensive, both in terms of the additional document
preparation, as well as the costs of the publication itself. My client
was furious, frustrated, and almost broke. Yet, she knew it was
the only way.
Eventually, almost two years and several thousands of dollars
after our initial filing for divorce, and fully seven years after she
had fled Chicago in the middle of the night, child in arms, Jesse
was granted a divorce. She was free, free at last—but the price of
her freedom wasn’t cheap, much less “free.”
Lessons learned:
Lengthy separations can be extremely dangerous. If you lose track
of your spouse, it will become very costly to obtain a divorce. The
courts require that proper notice be given to defendants in all legal
proceedings. Thus, service of process must be accomplished, either
personally, by certified mail, or by publication. The latter is extremely
expensive, but many times it is the only alternative when a spouse
vanishes into thin air.