Q: How can someone get a divorce if they can not find their spouse
A: Tennessee law allows for a defendant to be served by publication ( a notice in a newspaper) IF, "after a diligent search and inquiry" the defendant cannot be found. Publishing the notice in the paper takes longer and can be expensive ( it has to run in the paper 4 times) so most of the time, its quicker and cheaper to spend resources to actually locate the person. Again, you have to make a diligent search and convince the Judge you have really looked hard to find the person before the court will allow and accept service by publication. Many times, a truly diligent search will locate the individual so the papers can be served by hand delivery.
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