I Was Served With Divorce Papers, What Do I Do Now?
Question: My wife's attorney recently served me with papers seeking a contested divorce. I now live in a different state from my wife. My wife knows that I have already retained an attorney in the same state in which she lives, but her attorney served the papers on me anyway instead of sending them to my attorney. Do they have to send these papers to my attorney since he has been hired to represent me, or is it my responsibility to deal with them?
Answer: In South Carolina, when a Family Court action is filed, the pleadings are almost always served on the other party, because the attorney usually does not know whether or not that person has hired an attorney. In many cases, people claim that they have an attorney, when in fact they do not or when they have only met for an initial consultation. If the other party really is represented by an attorney, that person can authorize his/her attorney to accept service of the pleadings on his/her behalf. In any event, all you need to do in this situation is simply forward the papers to your lawyer for him to review and handle for you.
I have been separated from my husband for two and a half years, I'm now trying to get a divorce but he will not except the papers. My question is how long do I have from the date they were filed to serve them to him.