What could be the reason for a divorce to be pending for 5 years? What should I do if I re-file but I do not know my spouse's whereabout?

If your spouse was served with the divorce papers five years ago and the case was never dismissed, you can re-activate the same case. You need to go to the courthouse and talk to the people there on how to proceed. if he was not served with the papers you must try to serve him with the papers - again using the same case number, etc. if the case was not dismissed. If you cannot personally serve him, you can file papers with the court to serve him by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in a city or town of his last known residence. If the prior case was dismissed, you need to start over with a new filing and get him served.

You do not have to refile if your husband was served p reviously. If he cannot be found you will have to go through the requirements to serve by publication.

The five-year dismissal statute applies unless there have been temporary orders. If the only thing in the file is the Petition and nothing else and there have been no temporary orders, the case will have to be dismissed and you will have to begin again. If there are temporary orders in place, you may treat the case as any other and proceed to a conclusion from where you are. The specifics of what you should do will vary greatly depending upon the actual status of the file. If there were no temporary orders and you must begin again, then begin again. File a new petition based on where you live now. You must make a good faith effort to find him and serve him personally.? "Good faith effort" will have different meanings depending upon the judge, but here are a few suggestions. 1. Send him an empty envelope to the last known address and write "Address correction requested" on the outside of the envelope. If the envelope comes back to you with a "addressee unknown", you lose. If the envelope does not come back, chances are that is where he is. If it comes back with a forwarding address, bingo. That is either where he is now or at least a newer address to start. Repeat until you either find him or lose. 2. Call his parents, brothers, sisters, friends, old drug dealer, anyone who might know where he is. Be totally up front. Tell the person you want to get divorced and you need to find him so you can serve him. You would be surprised how much people will share. 3. Call his old landlord, old boss. Be polite. Be truthful. Ask away. Again, you will be surprised. 4. Check with the vital statistic registry in Sacramento. Seriously, he may have died. Really. It's worth checking. 5. Google him. You know his full name, his birthday, his social security number, his scars and tattoos, at least the ones he had when you last saw him. Facebook him. Look for him on LinkedIn. Did you go to the same high school Same college Check for him on lists of alumni 6. Call his old girlfriends. Lots of guys have limited imaginations about companionship and tend to revert to old ways quickly. It can also be a lot of fun to inform the new/old sweetie that he is not divorced as he thinks he is and as he told her he was. If you do most, or all of those things and still cannot find him, the court will authorize service by publication. There are lots of books to explain what to do, but the short version is that you submit a statement to the judge telling him what you have done to try to find the guy and you have given up. Then you take the summons to a newspaper that you pick in advance and have told the judge and they will publish it. The newspaper should be a "newspaper of public record" in the county in which he lives or in which he last lived to your knowledge. It does not need to be in California if you determine that he moved from California. Remember 2 things. It is better to find him than not to find him.? It is better if you don't find him that you were really trying to find him than just jumping through hoops. So the message is to really try until it seems silly to do so any more.

The best you can do is to take his default if he did not respond. You can also bifurcate the issues and at least get the divorce done.

You may simply need to file a default. I suggest you contact an attorney before you refile.

You should know why it's pending. You don't state whether or not either of you have an attorney representing you. You need an attorney or assistance through self-help or a non-profit that assists people who cannot afford an attorney. You should not need to refile if it is still "pending" however there is a statute that requires dismissal after five years. Since no one has made a motion to dismiss it, you should be fine. But these questions imply that you both handled this without attorneys and answering your questions such as "continue where I left off" without facts is impossible to answer. Generally, yes, you should continue where you left off, send notices to the last known address and move for trial so that you can speed up the process to get a judgment.

You have to find out if the court dismissed it if it did go to court and try to get it back on calendar. Easier to finish it up than have to find your spouse so you can reserve the paperwork. You may need help getting through the procedure