11954 Satisfied customers
Expert in: Family Law, Legal, Estate Law, Real Estate Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law, Business Law, Consumer Protection Law, Bankruptcy Law, Traffic Law, Personal Injury Law.
Verified lawyers, 10+ years of experience
Save time and money. Get specialized help.
11954 Satisfied customers
Jessica
Consultant
JosephE322, Expert
Hi and thank you for using JustAnswer. My name is ***** ***** I will be assisting you with your question.
I am licensed Canadian lawyer, and this conversation is for informational purposes only. I kindly ask for your patience as some questions take longer to answer and I may have to do legal research. I may be away from my desk from time to time, but rest assured I will always return back as soon as possible. If at any point during our conversation you don’t understand something, please let me know so I can clarify.
Which province are you located in?
JosephE322, Expert
Good afternoon – sorry to hear about the situation. You could apply for sole custody but you would need to serve the father with your application. If you cannot find him, you would need to hire a private investigator to find him. If he cannot be found, you would need to ask the court to “dispense with service” meaning they will rule you need not serve him.
Does that help answer your question today or did you have any follow up questions?
JosephE322, Expert
You need to take all reasonable steps to convince the court that he cannot be found.
JosephE322, Expert
Assuming he has a traditional job and lives in Ontario, this shouldn't take more than a few hours to find him.
JosephE322, Expert
You'll have to convince the court that you took all reasonable steps to find him before they will excuse service.
JosephE322, Expert
He needs to be personally served with this. That would mean going to his last address, checking public records, contacting persons who might know where he lives etc. It's relatively straightforward for a private investigator to locate someone in Ontario given the technology now available.
JosephE322, Expert
Did you have any additional questions about this issue?
JosephE322, Expert
Thank you for using JustAnswer. I wish you the best of luck. If you have any follow up questions about this matter, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.