[gongiebreeze]

I was married in Belize I now live in the US and I Have not seen my husband over 27 years I want to get a divorce How do I go about doing so.

[lawanwadee]

You should appoint a lawyer in Belize to file a divorce for you. There are procedures for cases that the other party cannot be located. You can file on ground that you have been separated for over 3 years, etc.

Let the lawyer handle the case and you go to the court only on the trial date. The whole process should not take longer than 6 months.

[cadillac59]

You may file for divorce in the US provided you meet the state's residency requirements for the state in which you reside. It is not necessary that your husband have ever been in the US.

However, if you are asking the court to divide property and assign debt, there may be jurisdictional problems if you husband has no contacts with the state in which you file the action. As a practical matter, however, in some states (California for example) the divorce petition does not require you allege jurisdiction over the adverse party (only that one of you meets the state's residency requirements) and if your husband does not participate in the divorce by filing a Response to the petition (or otherwise appear in the action) and contest jurisdiction the court will assume jurisdiction is proper and divide property and allocate debt in accordance with the state's domestic relations law (that is, if the case proceeds by default). Nonetheless and as stated, the court does not need personal jurisdiction over your husband to terminate marital status.

Check with an attorney in the state in which you reside. Service of the divorce petition may be difficult (service in another country may require compliance with the Hague Convention treaty on service of process) and expensive but you may file locally. If your husband cannot be located you may qualify for the court to order publication of the summons and petition to effectuate service of process.