Rule 221.Missing and out-of-state parents

Personal service first. Service is made under the personal service provisions of Rule 4. Publication is a fallback, never a shortcut.

Then publication. Where personal service cannot be accomplished, or DSCYF files an affidavit setting out why it cannot be accomplished in this State, DSCYF publishes notice of the action telling the respondent they have 20 days to file an answer, move or otherwise plead. Notice is published on a legal notices website the court establishes, or in a newspaper in the locality where the respondent is or was last believed to be.

The website option is a quiet modernisation with real consequences. A newspaper notice reaches almost nobody and costs money that could be spent on the child; a searchable public site at least can be found by a parent who is looking, or by somebody who knows them.

The case moves. Failure to obtain service over one party by the time a hearing occurs does not prevent the court proceeding as to any other party over whom it has jurisdiction. A child's timetable is not suspended because one parent cannot be found.

The search continues. DSCYF must make continuing, diligent efforts to locate and notify parents who have not been personally served. Publication does not close the question — the obligation runs for as long as the case does, which matters because a parent who surfaces late still has rights, and Rule 205's offer of counsel travels with the publication notice.