What is the difference between serving divorce papers and filing for divorce?

Answer 1

When you initiate any lawsuit, the first thing you do is file a Complaint or Petition. This is a document outlining what you want and why you are legally entitled to it. (In a divorce, you sue the other person for dissolution of marriage.) This document is filed with the clerk of court, and is called a case. This process is commonly referred to as filing for divorce.

Once your Complaint is filed, you must then give the defendant formal legal notice of the pending lawsuit. This is done by "service of process," meaning you serve them. Different states have different rules for how a Complaint may be serve, but it typically involves having the sheriff or another authorized person physically place the documents in the Defendant's hands.

Once a person has been served, they have a certain period of time (20-30 days, depending on jurisdiction) to file an Answer, or a formal document responding to the Complaint. The Answer must be filed with the court, and also sent to the Plaintiff or Plaintiff's attorney by mail or hand delivery. If your serving for divorce you have the court documents (papers) showing you have filed for the divorce with the courts. Filing for a divorce is the first step in the divorce process. The spouse then has to be served for the divorce proceedings to begin.

When divorce papers are served they are officially given to the spouse and the court is made aware that the spouse is officially aware of the divorce.

Answer 2

Those are only different ways to say the same thing. Suing for divorce is an older version that reflected divorce rules and procedures in the past. The more modern, more accurate term is filing for divorce which means the parties have filed a complaint or petition for divorce to commence the legal termination of their marriage.

In some cases, suing may be correct if one party is bringing the action on specific grounds. However, suing is not always correct since many states have no fault divorce procedure. Filing for divorce is always the correct term to mean that a couple has commenced a divorce action.

Answer 3

serve the divorce papers because then you know Ur not doing anything wrong