“You’ve been served!”  Most of us are aware of that TV phrase.  For most cases, that is how a complaint is “legally” given to a defendant.  It is the official way of putting them on notice they are being sued (including for a divorce) and giving them an opportunity to respond.

But what happens when you can not locate the person to be served? There are accepted alternate ways of serving someone, but a court in New York State has allowed for a new one.  A judge in Manhattan has allowed a woman to serve her husband for a divorce via private message on Facebook.  The circumstances are somewhat unique to this particular case, but it is not the first case to allow service via Facebook.  This ruling does not open the flood gates for Facebook service — rules would need changing for this to occur.

The wife claims she is not seeking money and just wants a divorce to move on with her life.