Maryland Divorce Lawyer Blog
Recently our office was retained by a busy professional who had been separated from his wife for several years. After the separation, he had continued to reside in Maryland, but his wife had returned to Thailand to live permanently. By the time he came to our office, the client had accepted that there was no hope of reconciliation and he wanted help filing for an absolute divorce on the basis of a one year separation.
Serving a Party who is residing outside of the United States can be tricky. If not accomplished in the proper manner, it’s not only money that’s wasted, but also months and months of valuable time. Our knowledgeable family law attorneys have extensive experience successfully serving Parties in countries all over the world and have spared countless clients the headache of attempting this on their own.
The first step in serving a Party who resides overseas is to thoroughly research the rules governing proper service in that country. In Maryland, if the person being served resides outside of the state, service is proper if done by any method allowed under the Maryland Rules or by any method that is considered proper by the foreign jurisdiction.
After being retained by the client, our family law attorneys quickly and efficiently conducted all of the necessary research on Thailand’s service requirements. The findings were then presented to the client along with our recommendation. Our attorneys explained all the possible risks and benefits to each method of service. They also discussed all of the various outcomes that could occur depending on what the wife chose to do after being served.
Ultimately, having been armed with all the research our attorneys had collected, and taking into consideration our office’s recommendations, the client made the decision for his wife to be served personally. The way this is typically done in Thailand is by hiring a Thai attorney or law firm to act as a process server.
Hiring a Thai law firm was going to be a major investment for our client and he was nervous about his decision to attempt service by this method. He worried that he would either be overcharged or he would spend all of this money and his wife still wouldn’t get served. However, once he saw the work our attorneys had done to ensure this did not happen, any fears he may have had at the beginning were quickly dispelled.
First, our attorneys spoke to numerous colleagues to see if anyone had a recommendation for a Thai law firm or attorney who they had worked with in the past. Extensive independent research was also conducted including contacting the American Embassy in Thailand to obtain a list of experienced Thai firms/attorneys. In total, over 20 law firms in Thailand were contacted by our office. Our attorneys not only obtained a price quote, but also spoke to each of these firms to determine whether they were experienced in dealing with the challenges that can accompany serving a Party and to obtain information about each firm’s rate of success.
Throughout this process, our attorneys were in constant contact with the client updating him on the status of their research. After the research was completed, an easy to follow table was compiled and given to the client. The table detailed all of the information the attorneys had learned as well as our recommendation about which firm the client should hire. Armed with all of the information our attorneys had diligently collected, the client felt 100% comfortable deciding to hire the Thai law firm that our office recommended. Our attorneys had provided him with everything he needed to make an informed decision.
Once the Thai law firm was hired, our attorneys were in constant contact with them. All questions were quickly answered and additional information was provided to the Thai firm in order to aid them in locating and serving the wife. Earlier this week, about two weeks after the Thai law firm had been hired, our client’s wife was successfully served at a hotel in Bangkok Thailand.
In a very short time, our attorneys were able to accomplish for our client something that would have taken him months and months to accomplish on his own. Throughout this process, the client was able to focus on his busy daily life because our attorneys made everything simple and straight forward. Our attorneys took care of all the details, from the large to the small, so the client did not have to waste his valuable time worrying and stressing.
If you are dealing with a family matter where the Party resides in another state or another country, you need a qualified and knowledgeable attorney who can quickly and efficiently navigate the rules and procedures for you. Contact lawyer Anthony A. Fatemi and his legal team to set up a family law consultation immediately.