By Sheriff or Process Server
The Clerk of the Court will issue a Summons (provided by the Petitioner and available from Clerk’s Office) at the time the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is filed. The summons will instruct the Respondent that within 20 days after the Petition is given to the Respondent an Answer or some response to the Petition must be filed with the Clerk for the court file and that a copy of the answer or response must be given to you.
The Summons and Petition must be "served" on the Respondent by a deputy sheriff or special process server. The Sheriff's office or special process server will charge you a fee for doing this. The Clerk will tell you where the Sheriff's Office is, and you may have that office serve the summons and a copy of the Petition on the Respondent. Or, you may know a person specially appointed by law to serve summons and petitions. In either case, you must give the summons and a copy of the Petition (and a copy of a financial affidavit if child support or alimony is requested) to the Sheriff or process server, along with the Respondent's address, place of work, or other whereabouts.
The Sheriff or process server will attempt to serve the papers on the Respondent and will then file a form (Affidavit of Service/Proof of Service) with the Clerk and return a copy to you to show whether the Respondent was served or not. If the Respondent is not found, the process server will have to try again. If the service is being made in another county, the Sheriff will send the original form to you. You then file with the Clerk. The Summons and Petition must be left with the Respondent or a member of the Respondent's household over the age of 15 years for there to be proper service. For the Judge to get personal jurisdiction over the Respondent, the Respondent must be found.
NOTE: The Judge must have personal jurisdiction over the Respondent by personal service to be able to order child support, alimony, and in most cases, divide property and debts.
By Publication
If you do not know where the Respondent lives or works, you can still give notice of your Petition to the Respondent through what is called "constructive service of process". To do this you must file an Affidavit of Diligent Search and Inquiry for Service by Publication stating that you have tried to find out where the Respondent lives. In the affidavit, you must list all the things you did to find the Respondent such as asking friends and relatives; checking telephone directory information; checking with the office of voter's registration or the tax assessor; or any other source of information to locate Respondent's residence. This affidavit must be signed by you under oath and you must swear to the truth of the facts stated in it before a notary public or Court Clerk. The Judge will ask you questions about your affidavit and search, and if the Judge decides you did not try hard enough to locate the Respondent, the Judge will not give you the divorce. A form called an Affidavit for Service by Publication is available from the Clerk’s Office.
Once the Affidavit is filed, a Notice of Action must then be sent to a newspaper to be published once a week for four consecutive weeks. It must be a newspaper published in Sumter County. You may either give the Notice, along with a stamped envelope addressed to the newspaper of your choice, or you may deliver the Notice of Action to the newspaper yourself. You MUST pay for the publication at the time you ask it to be published if required to do so by the newspaper. After publication of the Notice for four weeks, the newspaper will give you an Affidavit of Publication which MUST be filed with the Clerk of the Court. If the filing fees are waived by the clerk, the notice of action can be posted by the clerk. A form called Notice of Action is available from the Clerk’s Office.
NOTE: If you serve the Respondent only by publication, the Judge does not get personal jurisdiction of the Respondent, which means that the Respondent cannot be ordered to pay alimony or child support or divide property and debts. The Judge can normally only give the divorce and determine custody of the child(ren) living with the Petitioner in cases where the Respondent was not personally served.
By Agreement
If there is a signed agreement between the parties to settle the case, the Respondent may voluntarily accept the Petition from you. In a case with an agreement, an Answer and Waiver to the Petition may be filed by the Respondent. With an Answer and Waiver, you can set a final hearing on your Dissolution of Marriage without having the Respondent appear at the hearing. You must file the Answer and Waiver with the Clerk before you call the Judicial Assistant of the assigned Judge to schedule your case for a final hearing.
A form called an Answer and Waiver is available from the Clerk’s Office.
The Clerk of the Court will issue a Summons (provided by the Petitioner and available from Clerk’s Office) at the time the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is filed. The summons will instruct the Respondent that within 20 days after the Petition is given to the Respondent an Answer or some response to the Petition must be filed with the Clerk for the court file and that a copy of the answer or response must be given to you.
The Summons and Petition must be "served" on the Respondent by a deputy sheriff or special process server. The Sheriff's office or special process server will charge you a fee for doing this. The Clerk will tell you where the Sheriff's Office is, and you may have that office serve the summons and a copy of the Petition on the Respondent. Or, you may know a person specially appointed by law to serve summons and petitions. In either case, you must give the summons and a copy of the Petition (and a copy of a financial affidavit if child support or alimony is requested) to the Sheriff or process server, along with the Respondent's address, place of work, or other whereabouts.
The Sheriff or process server will attempt to serve the papers on the Respondent and will then file a form (Affidavit of Service/Proof of Service) with the Clerk and return a copy to you to show whether the Respondent was served or not. If the Respondent is not found, the process server will have to try again. If the service is being made in another county, the Sheriff will send the original form to you. You then file with the Clerk. The Summons and Petition must be left with the Respondent or a member of the Respondent's household over the age of 15 years for there to be proper service. For the Judge to get personal jurisdiction over the Respondent, the Respondent must be found.
NOTE: The Judge must have personal jurisdiction over the Respondent by personal service to be able to order child support, alimony, and in most cases, divide property and debts.
By Publication
If you do not know where the Respondent lives or works, you can still give notice of your Petition to the Respondent through what is called "constructive service of process". To do this you must file an Affidavit of Diligent Search and Inquiry for Service by Publication stating that you have tried to find out where the Respondent lives. In the affidavit, you must list all the things you did to find the Respondent such as asking friends and relatives; checking telephone directory information; checking with the office of voter's registration or the tax assessor; or any other source of information to locate Respondent's residence. This affidavit must be signed by you under oath and you must swear to the truth of the facts stated in it before a notary public or Court Clerk. The Judge will ask you questions about your affidavit and search, and if the Judge decides you did not try hard enough to locate the Respondent, the Judge will not give you the divorce. A form called an Affidavit for Service by Publication is available from the Clerk’s Office.
Once the Affidavit is filed, a Notice of Action must then be sent to a newspaper to be published once a week for four consecutive weeks. It must be a newspaper published in Sumter County. You may either give the Notice, along with a stamped envelope addressed to the newspaper of your choice, or you may deliver the Notice of Action to the newspaper yourself. You MUST pay for the publication at the time you ask it to be published if required to do so by the newspaper. After publication of the Notice for four weeks, the newspaper will give you an Affidavit of Publication which MUST be filed with the Clerk of the Court. If the filing fees are waived by the clerk, the notice of action can be posted by the clerk. A form called Notice of Action is available from the Clerk’s Office.
NOTE: If you serve the Respondent only by publication, the Judge does not get personal jurisdiction of the Respondent, which means that the Respondent cannot be ordered to pay alimony or child support or divide property and debts. The Judge can normally only give the divorce and determine custody of the child(ren) living with the Petitioner in cases where the Respondent was not personally served.
By Agreement
If there is a signed agreement between the parties to settle the case, the Respondent may voluntarily accept the Petition from you. In a case with an agreement, an Answer and Waiver to the Petition may be filed by the Respondent. With an Answer and Waiver, you can set a final hearing on your Dissolution of Marriage without having the Respondent appear at the hearing. You must file the Answer and Waiver with the Clerk before you call the Judicial Assistant of the assigned Judge to schedule your case for a final hearing.
A form called an Answer and Waiver is available from the Clerk’s Office.