When a spouse in West Virginia is trying to get a divorce from their spouse, but their spouse is in jail, the question becomes can they divorce a spouse when the spouse is incarcerated? The fact is, someone can get a divorce in West Virginia when in fact their spouse is incarcerated. It can be a tricky process without an attorney, but it begins with the filing of a petition for divorce.
Then what one would do is immediately file for the appointment of a guardian ad litem. A guardian ad litem is a person who is appointed by the court, whose job it is to actually accept service of the petition for divorce. Now, one thing one has to keep in mind is oftentimes there are additional fees that are involved. However, if one is considered to be in the position of not having enough money, then the court will actually add it. However, if one is like most people, then they will have to pay for it out of pocket.
One should ask themselves is if it’s worth it or not to get a divorce. A lot of times in those cases, there aren’t that much in assets. There’s really not much to divide, but sometimes there is. That’s something that one will have to take into account as to whether it’s worth it. There could be additional fees that one doesn’t want to deal with. For example, nobody is probably going to tell you about extra fees at the courthouse, but because what they’ll tell you a lot of times is just file a notice of publication. The court will inquire whether one knows where the other person is and then at that point they will tell them at a correctional institution.
This should trigger with the court that this person needs to be appointed a guardian ad litem which is an attorney to accept service and to serve in that capacity to represent the spouse in jail. Then one would go to court and then the court has to make some decisions on all of the different issues that are involved in a divorce. Things such as property distribution, parenting issues, child support, spousal support and more would be handled at that point.
