In all divorce cases, a person must serve their spouse with a divorce petition. This means they must give their spouse legal notice that they have filed a divorce case.

If you cannot find your spouse to serve them with the divorce papers, including if they have been deported, then you can ask your judge if you can serve by publication. You do this by publishing a notice in the local newspaper. Each county is different. Contact your county's circuit clerk to find out which newspaper to publish the notice in.

You can only use service by publication if you could not find your spouse after making good efforts to find them. If you have not made a good effort, then your judge may not permit you to serve by publication. Making a good effort to find your spouse might include:

• Trying to serve the divorce papers to your spouse at their last known address,
• If it's safe for you, trying to contact your spouse through phone, text, email, social media or other methods,
• Asking your spouse's family members, friends, or coworkers if they know how to find your spouse,
• Contacting your spouse's most recent employer to see if they still work there, or
• Searching for your spouse on the internet through social media and other databases, such as the military database.

The court will ask you what efforts you made. So write down everything you did to try to find your spouse. Here is a worksheet you can use to show what actions you have taken.

Note: If the spouse is not found by the time the judge grants the divorce, the judge cannot decide on:

• Spousal support, also known as "alimony" or "maintenance,"
• Child support,
• Parenting time or visitation, 
• Division of property that is not personal property, or
• Division of property that is located outside of Illinois.

If you find your spouse later, you can go back to court to have those issues decided.

But, even if your spouse is missing, you can still ask the court to award you responsibility for your child (custody) if the child lives with you.