Or at least, you can serve your spouse divorce papers via Facebook if you live in New York. The Wall Street Journal reports that a “Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper allows a lawyer for 26-year-old nurse Ellanora Baidoo to serve the divorce summons to Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku through a private message from her Facebook account.”

The ruling was based on Ms. Baidoo’s difficulties in reaching her spouse in order to serve the papers. According to the WSJ, Ms. Baidoo even hired a private investigator, but those attempts were deemed unsuccessful. Judge Cooper acknowledged that the ruling was non-traditional, but pointed out that “the defendant has a right to know he is being sued, and it gets the job done in delivering the summons.”

This is not the first time a New York court has ruled that social media outlets could be used to serve papers; the New York Post reported in September of 2014, a Staten Island “Family Court official ruled that Noel Biscocho could use Facebook to serve Anna Maria Antigua [notice that he wished to stop paying child support] because other, more traditional methods to slap her with papers have not worked.”

So far, his ruling only affects people who are seeking a divorce in NY, but now that the precedent is set there is not telling how quickly judges around the country may decide to follow suit.

Serving papers in Tennessee

Right now, a person who wishes to serve his or her spouse with divorce papers in Tennessee must go about it in a more traditional way. After you file for a divorce, the paperwork is either mailed via certified mail to your spouse by you or your attorney or served to your spouse by a process server or a member of the sheriff’s department.

If you do not know where your spouse is, then the papers will typically be served to his or her last known place of residence or employment. If he or she is not there, you can request service of process by publication, which allows a “copy of this order to be published for four (4) consecutive weeks in the newspaper mentioned in the order or designated by the general rules of the court,” according to Tennessee state law. If your spouse still does not show up, you may be able to obtain your divorce by default.

These particular situations are highly complex, and the process can vary based on your individual circumstances. At Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC, we help clients facing complex divorce issues like these by offering skillful, guided counsel from the very first day. To reserve an in-person or video consultation at our Nashville office, please contact our firm.