friend's wife sold his tools,destroyed his stuff, and took off. How does he serve her if he can't find her?

If he can't find her, then he can advertise in the local paper for a period of time. After a while of this he can legally get divorced since the courts will say that she isn't interested in coming back (i.e., desertion).

The best way to make sure of how long he has to do this for will be for him to hire a lawyer. This will also serve him well since it'll ensure that if the b*tch were to reappear & try to cause trouble he'll be ready for her. It stinks that she wasn't mature enough to handle the divorce like a real grown woman.

He can get a divorce with out her being served. What needs to be done, with a lawyer, is to publish, in the local paper or where she may be living, your intentions to divorce. The ad will run for 21 days. If she does not respond in a set amount of time the divorce goes through with or without her knowing.

You can post a notice in the local paper for a time and then legally divorce the person.

Here is a good source.

http://www.womansdivorce.com/how-to-serve-divorce-...

How To Serve Divorce Papers

Once you've decided to get a divorce, you may be wondering how to serve divorce papers on your spouse. To begin with, the initial paperwork is called a divorce petition or summons, and it outlines all the important information about your marriage and what is being asked for in the divorce. This paperwork needs to be filed with the proper court, usually in the county where the filing spouse resides.

The next step is to have divorce papers served on your spouse. This lets your spouse know that papers have been filed at the courthouse to start the divorce process. It also lets them know what is being asked for and how much time they have to respond.

For the divorce to actually proceed, the court will need proof that your spouse was served with the petition. If you have a lawyer handling your divorce, he or she will probably take care of all this for you. If you are doing the paperwork yourself, below is a description on how to serve divorce papers, and how proof of service is obtained:

1. Acceptance of Service: The paperwork is personally delivered to your spouse, by someone over the age of 18 (and not your child). You must get your spouse to sign and date the Acceptance of Service paper to verify that the petition was actually received.

3. First Class Mail, with acknowledgement: The petition can be mailed, along with an acknowledgment form that your spouse will need to sign, date, and return. If it's not returned by the specified period, you will need to use another method of service.

3. Certified mail, return receipt requested: Serving divorce papers with way requires that your spouse sign a paper that is attached to the envelope when he receives the petition in the mail. This “return receipt” is then mailed back to you after it is signed, and will serve as proof of service.

4. Personal Service by Sheriff or process server: You can hire a Sheriff or professional process server to deliver your divorce petition. A proof of service form will be filled out by the person serving the petition, which will then be filed with the court.

5. By Publication: When all other methods fail, the court will allow service to be made by publication. This involves announcing the divorce petition in a newspaper where your spouse is likely to be living for a specified amount of time. You will need to return a copy of the newspaper notice, with a statement for how long the notice ran, to the court for proof of service.

If your friend really wants to get a divorce and get it over with - forget the 'stuff' and move on. Cancel credit cards is first. Change bank account info. There are ways to move on without all the baggage involved.

Talk to family members. My brother couldn't find his wife so he put a add he the paper saying he was filing for divorce and she had so many days to repond and if there was no reponse the divorce was granted

wow did he deserve it? some states allow a statute of limitations if a spouse is missing for a period of time and is MIA. i would say your "friend" hire a good attorney and file for divorce the same way anyone would. if someone is angry enough to disappear there is probably a good reason. i wouldn't want to be involved with this person and would be inclined to hire an investigator to look into HIS background.

He has to put a specific ad in the local newspaper to run for a specific time (see state requirements). This serves a "notice". Normally you would send the notice tot he last mailing address known, but if it is his residence it cannot be done that way.

Dr. Tommy Skelton

Maybe the police should get involved... who knows who really sold those tools... women don't usually do that kind of stuff.... if I were him I'd call the cops, they're gonna come eventually if she's missing anyway hopefully she's OK sounds scary to me - women don't RUN off and sell stuff very often, UNLESS her boyfriend coaxed her into it....

they have things you put in the legal section of the newspaper, with the date and all of that, and then she gets 3 times to appear and after that the judge will finalize, and she pretty much screwed herself over.

Go to judge, get a divorce for desertion. eaiser that way.