China is a signatory of the Hague Service Convention and allows international service of process under Article V of the treaty.
If you are trying to obtain a divorce in California, but your spouse lives in China, it will be necessary to obtain international service of process on your spouse through the Chinese government under the provisions of the Hague Service Convention. If you want assistance, we here at Ancillary Legal can help. We offer Hague Service Convention international service of process services if you need to serve California divorce papers in China. Contact us for a no-obligation consultation. We accept orders over the phone at (404) 459-8006 and via email.
The legal term “service of process” means the procedures for delivering copies of court papers to the person being sued (or, for this article, the spouse being divorced). The person or business being sued is typically called the “Defendant.” Under most legal rules, service of process means delivering the court papers personally to the Defendant. When the case is local, personal delivery of the court papers to the Defendant is often done by the local sheriff’s office or other local law enforcement. Many times, local service of process is done by a court-appointed company called a special process server.
When court papers must be served on a Defendant living in a foreign country, then the person suing must use international service of process. For most countries — including China — this means using the provisions of the Hague Service Convention (“HSC”). The HSC is an international treaty that sets out various agreed rules and procedures for delivering foreign court papers to a country’s citizens and residents. China is a signatory of the HSC and allows international service of process under Article V of the HSC.
Like most countries who have signed the HSC, China has created a Central Authority to handle requests for international service of process. The Chinese Central Authority is part of the Ministry of Justice of China within its International Legal Cooperation Center. In brief, simplified terms, the process involves:
For more information, contact Ancillary Legal at (404) 459-8006. We have the deep experience, staffing and resources to help you satisfy the requirements for proper and valid international service of process. We focus on litigation support domestically and internationally and can ensure that your time can stay focused on the substance of your matter and not procedural technicalities. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.
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