How can I serve ex parte custody papers if nobody knows where to find them

[Where_is_my_daughter]

My ex disappeared with my daughter aprox. 3 weeks ago. I have been frantically trying to contact her via telephone & txt messages, with no response. She is unstable & I am deeply concerned for my daughters well being! Her parents & siblings are also very worried and have no idea where she is. They have been trying to contact her for weeks, with no response. Aprox a week ago, my sister sent her a txt msg asking her where my daughter is & she got a response from my ex's cell phone but it only said that they were fine & that they were not missing. It said that she has been in contact w/ me this entire time (which is a lie) & that I know where she & my daughter are, (lie) and that I was completely fine with it. (lie) So my sister replied, asking again, where they were. She then received a msg that said she would call my sister "in a little while" to explain. She never did. Today I filed for emergency custody and I have an ex parte hearing set for Monday (12/15/2014). The paperwork says that I need to serve my ex before the ex parte hearing. How can I serve someone if I don't know where they are?

[ocean]

How old is daughter? School age? Go to her school and see if she pulled her out and where her records were sent to.
Does ex have a job? Go there and have her served.
What does your current paperwork state about your visitation? When are you supposed to see child next?

Ex parte usually means the other party is not there, judge rules as a temp order until both parties come back for a full hearing...Send papers to her last current address and her parents address with registered mail that you sent it. Best you can do for now. You could also text her the court date if you do not think that will harm the case and she will hide further...

[Davy]

"Ex parte" is legalese everywhere in this country to clearly define "without notice" to another party otherwise deserving of notification in a legal matter.  If a child is missing (ie whereabouts unknown) then it is NECESSARY for a responsible party to obtain a "custody order" in a competent jurisdiction.  When a missing, exploited and "at risk" child is located the authorities will immediately know where the child should be returned. 

This matter should be turned over to your sherriff's department and / or state's attorney for criminal investigation.  Those entities have tools and resounces not available to a citizen (and civil court).

Bottom line.  Children in these situations need to be PROTECTED. 

[MixedBag]

I agree with Ocean -- last known address AND parents.

[Davy]

MB and Ocean please re-read the original post.  Locating the child far outweights everything else.  Actually, one parent has no obligation to know the location of the other parent.

[ocean]

I agree but I do not think the poster is right that this is ex-parte hearing if they gave him paperwork to have her served...something not totally right...

[Davy]

The appropriate legal filing is titled something like (it has been a long time ago for me) "Ex Parte Motion for Emergency Temporary Custody" and it appears that is what has been filed.  In reality, the parent that filed is the ONLY person in the court house entitled to custody of the child (ren) and will win the motion hands down especially since no one else is requesting custody.  It would be most difficult for a court to award custody to a non-existant pseudo parent.  At the same time, a court CAN NOT DICTATE the content of a legal document.

Again, a parent must be granted legal standing (ie CP) to protect a child.

Case in point.  When this young atty rode (horseback) the circuit he submitted a Motion to Squash to stop rooting pigs from squealing under the court house.  The atty's name was Abe Lincoln.

[MixedBag]

How did the hearing go?  Did it happen?

What was the judge's answer to the fact that you don't know where mom is in order to serve her?

[Davy]

I'm also interested in MB's inquirys.

Let's hope the court did not quiz the petitioner as to the location of the abscounding parent since the Ex Parte filing serves that purpose.  The pressing issue is locating and returning the child(ren) so hopefully the court did not remain silent on that issue. 

[MixedBag]

I'm going off of when OD's EX/kids dad went missing and she had to have him served.  here in Alabama, that's what we were told -- last two known addresses.  And then if that fails to be successful (no contact), THEN there's a procedure to publish it in the newspaper.

But he didn't have the kids.....he just always threatened to take them and disappear with them.