Legal Question in Family Law in California

If you think about it, the answer to your question is obvious. If you are applying to serve the initial summons, petition and related papers, by definition the other party has not appeared in the case. A party that has not appeared in the case would have to be personally served with a noticed motion. But of course you are applying for letters rogatory in order to personally serve the summons. So if you needed a noticed motion, you would have to get letters rogatory to serve the motion for letters rogatory for service of the summons. You see the circularity of that? So obviously you apply for letters rogatory ex parte. Before you immerse yourself in the intricacies of the Hague Convention, however, I strongly recommend you first try availing yourself of the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 415.30, using form POS-015 http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/pos015.pdf

I disagree with Mr. McCormick.

You need to comply with the Hague Convention on service in foreign countries. Using the method provided by Mr. McCormick will not put you in the clear, because California does not have the legal authority to exercise jurisdiction through a statute that abrogates an international treaty. Failure to comply with the Hague Convention will render your service invalid. "Failure to comply with the Hague Service Convention procedures voids the service even though it was made in compliance with California law." (Kott v. Superior Court (2nd Dist. 1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1126, 1136.)

The Hague Service Convention is an international treaty govering service of process in countries that are parties to the treaty. Copies of the Convention and a list of the signatory countries are an "Appendix" to Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. I know that Japan is a signatory.

So in short, you do need to start with the Hague Convention.