REPORT TITLE:
Legal Notice for Divorce


DESCRIPTION:
Authorizes courts to order process of service upon plaintiff
filing an affidavit of impoverishment.  (CD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2480
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            C.D. 1
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ANNULMENT, DIVORCE, AND SEPARATION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 580-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "�580-3 Service.(a)  The complaint for annulment,
 
 4 divorce, or separation, and the summons shall be served by an
 
 5 authorized process server on the defendant personally if the
 
 6 defendant is within the State, unless the defendant enters an
 
 7 appearance in the case, and except as hereinafter otherwise
 
 8 provided.
 
 9      (b)  If service by an authorized process server is not
 
10 feasible or is inconvenient or if the defendant is without the
 
11 State, the court may authorize the service to be made by any
 
12 other responsible person, or the court may authorize notice of
 
13 the pendency of the action and of a time and place of hearing,
 
14 which shall be not less than twenty days after the giving of
 
15 personal notice, to be given to the defendant personally by such
 
16 person and in such manner as the court shall designate and the
 
17 case may be heard and determined at or after the time specified
 
18 in the notice.
 
19      (c)  If the defendant is without the circuit, the court may
 
20 authorize service by registered or certified mail, with request
 

 
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 1 for a return receipt and direction to deliver to addressee only.
 
 2 The return receipt signed by the defendant shall be prima facie
 
 3 evidence that the defendant accepted delivery of the complaint
 
 4 and summons on the date set forth on the receipt.  Actual receipt
 
 5 by the defendant of the complaint and summons sent by registered
 
 6 or certified mail shall be equivalent to personal service on the
 
 7 defendant by an authorized process server as of the date of the
 
 8 receipt.
 
 9      (d)  If it appears that the defendant has refused to accept
 
10 service by mail, or is concealing oneself, or evading service, or
 
11 that plaintiff does not know the address or residence of the
 
12 defendant and has not been able to ascertain the same after
 
13 reasonable and due inquiry and search for at least fifteen days
 
14 either before or after the filing of the complaint, the court may
 
15 authorize notice of the pendency of the action and of a time and
 
16 place of hearing, which shall not be less than twenty days after
 
17 the last publication of the published notice, to be given to the
 
18 defendant by publication thereof at least once in each of three
 
19 successive weeks in a newspaper suitable for the advertisement of
 
20 notices of judicial proceedings, published in the State, and the
 
21 case may be heard and determined at or after the time specified
 
22 in the notice.
 
23      (e)  If the plaintiff, as a result of impoverishment, is
 

 
Page 3                                                     2480
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 1 unable to publish notice as required by subsection (d), the
 
 2 plaintiff shall file an affidavit attesting to impoverishment and
 
 3 to the fact that after due and diligent search, the whereabouts
 
 4 of the individual sought to be served are unknown.  Upon those
 
 5 filings, the court shall order that service be made by forwarding
 
 6 a certified copy of the pleadings and process to the individual
 
 7 at the last known address by registered or certified mail, with a
 
 8 return receipt requested and a directive to deliver to addressee
 
 9 only, sending a certified copy of the pleadings and process to
 
10 the defendant's closest known relative, if any can be found, and
 
11 by posting a copy of the pleadings and process at the courthouse
 
12 in which the pleadings and process has been filed.  Service shall
 
13 be completed thirty days after mailing.  The plaintiff shall
 
14 attest to the fact of the mailing and the date thereof by
 
15 affidavit, attaching the sender's receipt for that mail and, if
 
16 available, the return receipt and envelope."
 
17      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
18      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.