divorce and alternate service

[peeta]

Hi all,

Hope you are all well.

I am in the process of divorcing my wife whom I separated 9 years ago, but I have do not her postal address to serve the papers. So I applied for D11 for the papers to be served by FaceBook as she is active there which the courts have accepted and I thought courts would then serve her via FaceBook.

I even received a letter via post from the court saying, ' wife has been sent papers I have nothing to do' which confirmed that I do not need to anything

but, I have received a email 2 weeks ago (which I only checked today), saying that I need to send the papers myself via FaceBook!

I believe the postal letter, the courts sent must have been generic, any does not apply for those who reply on Alternate Service.

As per the order which also attached to that email, I need to send within 7 days, clearly that has passed. what should I do now ?

also, is there any template any one share to send the such notifications of proceedings?

Thanks

[atticus]

Paragraphs 6.1 to 6.4 of Practice Direction 6A to tge Family Procedure Rules apply here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...t_06a#IDAYCSIC

In short, when applying for an order for service by alternative means you need to be very clear (before making the application) how this is to be done and by whom, and you need to be ready to act on the order once received.

I think you will need to apply to the court to vary the order by extending the time for service, and for any other variations that may be necessary.

[peeta]

thanks for the reply atticus

When I made the D11 form, I specifically asked the court to send the papers to the respondent, hence why I thought I do not need to do anything. Also, the letter I received from the post regarding my Divorce also mentioned 'application has been served and I do not need to do anything'. which I now believe is the standard response (for those who know their respondent's address)

It is just that the court has decided to send me an email (not via post) saying I need to serve this myself along with the court order which has been made on the 25th Nov, but courts sent me an email on the 4th of December and the court order says I need to serve within 7 days of 'receipt'. Since I only checked my email, hence received it yesterday, I served it yesterday only as I did not want to delay further and have sent the court the 'Certification of Service' Form.

do you think this is wrong and does this likely to cause any issues later if courts accepts my service?

Thanks

[atticus]

You need to point out the timing issue to the court and ask for time to be extended.

[peeta]

thanks again atticus

Since I explicitly asked the court to serve papers on the respondent, shouldn't they have done it, why are the asking me to?

anyway, since I have already sent the 'acknowledgement of service' where I have indicated the date I served, and explained to them that I only saw the email yesterday, will that suffice.

or do I have to explicitly ask for extension to via another email?

[atticus]

A few points.

1. If you have an order permitting service by a specified means by say l1 December but serve by that means after that date, you have not had permission for that service. That is why I now say for the third time that you should request an extension of time.

2. It is the person on whom papers have been served who acknowledges service. The document to be prepared by the person effecting service is a certificate of service.

3. The court does not do what you ask because you ask it; it considers the decision it will make.

4. Are you able to post the exact wording of the order?

[peeta]

thanks again atticus , appreciate it.

yes, I only meant the certification of service which I have file reflecting the exact dates.

The wording of the order is as follows.

The order states that:
1. The application for alternative service is granted.
The Application may be served on the Respondent as follows:
Service by social media (see attached directions)
The Court to send out service pack to the Applicant.
Save in the event of the court being ordered to serve by email only and notifying the Applicant that the
court was notified of non-delivery of the said email or where the Applicant serves by email and
receives a notification of non-delivery, which they must disclose to the court, the Application shall be
deemed served 48 hours after service as set out above.
The period for filing an acknowledgement of service shall be 14 days after the date of deemed
service.
2. Any party may apply to vary or revoke this Order. Any such application must be made pursuant to
Rule 4.3 / 18.11 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and must be made within 7 days of receipt of
this Order upon them.
SERVICE BY SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTIONS

Thanks

a. Be transmitted within 7 days of receipt of this Order
b. Be specifically addressed to the Respondent
c. Identify the court, parties and case number
d. State that the Court has directed that the Application be served by social media
e. Attach a copy of the Application / Acknowledgment of Service / Notice of Proceedings and this
Order
f. Inform the Respondent of the details of the Court and how to contact the Court
g. Be transmitted by ‘private message’ in a way which is not visible to anyone other than the
Respondent on the social media account
3. A statement of service shall be filed by the person transmitting the message within 7 days of such
service and shall:
a. Identify the person making the statement
b. Refer to this order
c. State the basis for the belief that the social media account to which the message has been sent is
in the possession of the Respondent and that there are no grounds to suggest that the message will
not be read or understood
d. Confirm the date and time of the transmission
e. Contain or exhibit a copy of the message sent
f. Confirm that no message has been received indicating that message has not or cannot be sent
g. Be verified by a Statement of Truth

[atticus]

The "Service by Social Media Directions" must be followed - by you. These are the words after "Thanks".

When did you receive this order? Para [?](a) says you are to serve within 7 days of the date you receive the order (NOT as you have previously said, within 7 days of the date of the order)

[peeta]

Hi atticus The order was sent to me as an attachment on the 4th of December.

I only saw this email on the 17th Dec and followed the order to the word on the same day.

[atticus]

Then you have to seek an extension of time, explaining why it took you 13 days to look at the email from the court.

[peeta]

ok, understand atticus

is there a form for seeking such extension?

or am I right to have done what I did - which is to serve and attach certificate of service and explaining the delay which is basically as per the postal comms I received, I was asked to do nothing. (the order only arrived via email not post)

[atticus]

The same form as is used for any other application, such as for alternative service.

[peeta]

update: counts seem to have accepted my late service as they seem to have set a deadline on my wife to respond 14 days from the date I sent her a FB message.but the fact that I was late to serve the papers, is that likely to be an issue later in the proceedings?

[peeta]

atticus do you have any thoughts on the above pls?

[atticus]

If she acknowledges service, I cannot see that there will be a problem.