We Serve Divorce Papers in North Queensland

If you have not jointly applied for a divorce with your partner, divorce papers must be served to your spouse in order for your divorce application to be recognised. If you applied for a divorce with your partner, no further documentation is required. The serving of divorce papers is offered by our team and can be performed in conjunction with other process serving services or field call procedures.

During the serving of divorce papers, your partner will be made aware of when and where any court proceedings will take place. The process will ensure they have received all necessary documentation before their appearance, giving them adequate time to prepare if required. If you cannot locate your partner and have exhausted all reasonable attempts at trying to find them, you can apply for an Order to Dispense With Services or for a substituted service. Rest assured, we treat all parties with empathy and respect throughout the entire process.

Serving Your Partner

If you and your partner are unrepresented, you can affect service in two ways. In the first option, you cannot serve documents to your spouse yourself—you must enlist a person over 18 years of age to hand a copy of the documents to them. Process servers, family members, friends or colleagues can all complete this task.

The documents they must receive are:

• A sealed copy of the Application for Divorce
• A copy of the Marriage, Families & Separation brochure
• Acknowledgment of Service—which is to be signed at Part C by the respondent

After this, you must complete an Affidavit of Service and file it in court. You should attach your partner’s signed Acknowledgement of Service to the affidavit.

The Second Option

In the second option, you can serve documents to your partner via post if you are confident they will promptly sign the Acknowledgement of Service document and return it to you. If they don’t or they do not receive the files, there may be a delay in your divorce proceedings. At Vanguard Mercantile, we recommend using the personal service option to safely ensure your documents are delivered on time.

Documents that must be mailed include:

• A sealed copy of the Application for Divorce
• A copy of the Marriage, Families & Separation brochure
• Acknowledgment of Service—which is to be signed at Part C by the respondent
• A letter to your spouse asking them to sign the Acknowledgment of Service
• A stamped self-addressed envelope for them to return the signed Acknowledgment of Service

In this method, you must also file an Affidavit of Service in court and attach your partner’s signed Acknowledgement of Service to it.

Time Limit For Service

 If your partner is in Australia, all documents must be delivered to them at least 28 days before the court hearing. If they are outside Australia, 42 days’ notice is required. Your application may be dismissed by the court if:

You have not provided all the necessary documents to your partner

You have not provided the documents to them in time

You are unable to prove your spouse has received the documents—such as if they have not provided an Acknowledgement of Service or you have not filed an Affidavit of Service

If this is the case, you will need to restart the process and pay your filing fees again.

A: We manage agents throughout the North Queensland area, covering Bowen to the South, Cardwell to the North and West to Charters Towers (areas outside of these can be serviced by negotiation). Locations within the service area include:

• Cardwell (Hinchinbrook area)
• Lucinda
• Ingham
• Palm Island
• Townsville
• Magnetic Island
• Ayr
• Home Hill
• Bowen
• Charters Towers