When you are served divorce papers, this is the first part of the process when you are the respondent. Being the respondent means that you are not the person who filed for divorce. In this post I’m going to discuss what it means to be served divorce papers and what you need to do next.
What Being Served Looks Like
When you are served divorce papers you may or may not be aware that they are coming. That depends on your relationship. In some cases you may have come to a conclusion together to file, the other person may have told you they filed, or you may be taken by surprise. At the very least in the state of Kentucky being served is something that is done in person through the Sheriff’s Department. These may be served to you in a variety of locations.
- At your home/place of residence
- At your place of work
- Or you can pick them up at the Sheriff’s Department
Typically these papers are handed to you. And no, it is not like on TV where they say “you have been served”. When this happened to me, they were very kind and asked me if I had any questions after handing me a folder with the papers.
Next Steps
After receiving your papers there are several things that you need to do.
- Find a lawyer that you trust
- Review the paperwork
- Sign and return the papers (this has to be done in a set amount of time after being served).
These are the first steps of many when going through the divorce process as the respondent. Reminder that none of this is an easy or short process so give yourself some grace and be sure to breathe. You are doing the best you can do!
