Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Divorce Service

Email is not valid service. Still, I would scan and email her the documents anyway, in the hope that she responds, obviating the need for valid service.

At the same time, I would proceed with serving her by publication in a newspaper of general circulation. You have seen the legal notices at the back of newspapers, right? In order to serve by publication, you have to first obtain a court order permitting it. To obtain the court's order, you have to first comply with the rules. The rules basically require that you make a diligent search for you spouse's address, attempting service at the last known address (even if you know she isn't there). If this doesn't sound simple, that's because it isn't.