Woman permitted to serve her husband divorce papers via Facebook

(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

published 7 April 2015

Seeking a divorce yet unable to find her husband, a New York woman has been granted permission to serve him divorce papers via Facebook.

Ellanora Baidoo married Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku in a civil ceremony in 2009, but he did not go through with the scheduled traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony that was to take place after, ABC News reports. The pair never lived together, and once Baidoo decided it was time to officially call it quits, she couldn't find Blood-Dzraku — she said the DMV has no record of him, he left his last known address in 2011, and there isn't a billing address attached to his pre-paid cell phone.

After proving that she couldn't track him down, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper told Baidoo and her attorney, Andrew Spinnell, that they could serve papers for three consecutive weeks through Facebook, and if Blood-Dzraku doesn't respond, he will let Baidoo file for default judgment for her divorce. Blood-Dzraku was served for the first time last week, with an attachment sent to his Facebook email address, and he has yet to reply. Spinnell said his client — the first to serve divorce papers on Facebook in the state — isn't in this for money or fame, she just "wants to move on with her life."