In today's article, we will discuss how to proceed with a divorce in the event that one of the parties involved has vanished without a trace. It is essential to be aware that there are two potential outcomes to consider while deciding how to terminate a marriage to such a partner. 

To begin, a petition for divorce can be submitted to the registry office on the grounds that a court has ordered one of the spouses to be physically or legally absent. Or, you can choose a divorce website, like DivorceCanBeSimple to present your interests.  It is necessary to petition the court for a divorce if the absent partner has not been deemed to be legally absent.

What to do if your spouse has been missing for more than a year

After a year during which neither partner communicates with the other, it is possible to legally dissolve a marriage on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

Recognition of a spouse as missing through the court is an important step in the process. If his or her spouse or another interested party cannot account for his or her whereabouts for the year, they may ask the court to legally name him or her as missing. If the court grants their petition, they will officially label him or her missing. 

For the purposes of calculating the period for declaring the absence by the court, the first day of the month following the month in which the last information on the missing spouse was received is used if there is any doubt as to which day the information was received. If there is no doubt as to which day the information was received, the first day of the month following the month in which the last information on the missing spouse was received is used. If you are unsure of the month in which the most up-to-date information was received, you might use the first of the next year as a point of reference instead.

Applying to the registry office for a divorce

If you have an extract from a court ruling declaring your spouse absent, you should submit your divorce package to either the registry office that was responsible for registering your marriage with the state or the registry office that is located in the county in which you presently reside.

How to obtain a divorce certificate 

If you want to receive a divorce certificate, you have to go to the registry office and submit an application along with the necessary supporting documents. After that, you will be given an appointment time to pick it up at the registry office (one month after the application was submitted). Following the state's completion of its review and stamping of the divorce record, your marriage certificate will then be returned to you.

After the state has formally registered the dissolution of the marriage and an appropriate entry has been made in the register of acts of civil status, the marriage is legally recognized to have ended. This occurs once the dissolution of the marriage has been properly registered by the state.

What to do in less than a year

The following is the procedure that must be performed in order to finalize your divorce if your spouse has vanished without a trace and you have only discovered his location within the past year:

1. Appeal to the Magistrate's Court for a Divorce

It is possible to initiate divorce procedures in a magistrate's court, at the last known abode of either spouse or at the site of either spouse's property. 

There are circumstances in which you are not required to submit your application at the home of your spouse; for example, if you have a child under the age of 18 living with you or if your health prevents you from doing so. 

Along with the application, the court also requires the following materials to be submitted, which are as follows:

• Original and copy of marriage certificate;

• A copy of your passport;

• Copies of birth certificates of your common children;

• A copy of the extract from the house book;

• If the application is submitted by a representative - a power of attorney and a passport of the representative;

The court will not move on with the lawsuit until it has received confirmation that the absent spouse has moved from his or her most recent known place of residence. This is because the court can’t receive notices from the absent spouse.

2. Receive a court decision and apply to the registry office

The decision of the court will be put on hold until the appeal is reviewed if it is appealed within the time limit that has been set after it has been handed down. 

The foundation for the registrar’s office's decision to complete a legal divorce will be a passage taken from the court judgment that dissolved the marriage. An extract will be sent to the registrar’s office within three days following the court's decision, at which point the marriage will be officially registered with the state. 

It is possible to register your divorce based on a court decision at either the registry office that registered your marriage at the state level (using an extract from the court decision that the court sends to the registry office on its own) or the registry office where you currently reside (using your application and an extract from the court decision). There are three different ways that a divorce petition can be filed: verbally, in writing, or online through the website for public services.

Your passport and a copy of the decision made by the court are the only things that are required to get a divorce formally registered in the state.

Divorce with a spouse whose location is unknown

Sometimes only one of the partners wants to get a divorce, but they can't seem to locate the other. What are my options for getting a divorce if my husband has vanished?

• The course of action in this situation depends on the following facts:

• Time during which the spouse is missing.

• Whether or not there is a court decision to recognize the spouse as missing.

• Therefore, it is advisable to consider in more detail the procedure for divorce with a spouse in the following situations:

• If there is no information about the place of residence of the spouse for less than a year

• If information about the place of residence of the spouse is not available during the year

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.