Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
Even if my spouse has filed papers for legal separation, he verbally told me he did so, but I have not officially been served. Is it his responsibility to set up the process for me to be served in order for his filing to be official? If I havn't officially been served, is there still a limited number of days for me to respond even though I don't know what date he filed it? How do I know if a judge is involved with this yet?
3 Answers from Attorneys
The time for response starts from when you receive official notice of the filing; that is, when you are served the court papers. So no worries until then. But you could check with the court in your jurisdiction to see if anything has been filed and, if so, request a copy.
Nothing can happen on your case unless and until you are served. His process server or he (if you had accepted service or signed for certified mail) would have to file an affidavit of service with the court. That is what tells the court you have been served. Once you have been served, you have 20 days to file a response if you are served in state. If you do not respond, he can ask the court to enter a default against you. If you desire to know if he filed, and you are in Maricopa County, you can go to www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov and click on Find A Case. Then click on Family Law and enter in your name.
Let me know if there is anything we can do to assist you.
Regards
Ronee
If it is a Maricopa County case, you can check at http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/FamilyCourtCases/caseSearch.asp for the date of filing. Your deadline for filing a response does not begin tolling until you are served, but it may be important to take steps even before then to insure that he is not claiming that you have been "substitute served".
We can certainly help.
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