A Brooklyn woman scored a judge’s approval to legally change her relationship status to “single” via Facebook.
In a landmark ruling, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper is allowing a nurse named Ellanora Baidoo to serve her elusive husband with divorce papers via a Facebook message.
Baidoo, 26, “is granted permission serve defendant with the divorce summons using a private message through Facebook,” with her lawyer messaging Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku through her account, Cooper wrote.
“This transmittal shall be repeated by plaintiff’s attorney to defendant once a week for three consecutive weeks or until acknowledged” by her hard-to-find hubby.
“I think it’s new law, and it’s necessary,” said Baidoo’s lawyer, Andrew Spinnell.
His client and Blood-Dzraku tied the knot back in a civil ceremony back in 2009, but their relationship crumbled when Blood-Dzraku reneged on his promise to have a traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony as well, Spinnell said. Both are from Ghana.
“She wanted their families there,” the lawyer said.
As a result, the wedding was never consummated and the husband and wife never lived together, the lawyer said — but Blood-Dzraku apparently still doesn’t want a divorce.
He kept in touch with his wife by phone and Facebook — but that was it, the ruling says.
The “last address plaintiff has for defendant is an apartment that he vacated in 2011,” Cooper said. Baidoo “has spoken with defendant by telephone on occasion and he has told her that he has no fixed address and no place of employment. He has also refused to make himself available to be served with divorce papers.”
The “post office has no forwarding address for him, there is no billing address linked to his prepaid cell phone, and the Department of Motor Vehicles has no record of him,” the ruling says.
“We tried everything, including hiring a private detective — and nothing,” Spinnell said.
The first Facebook message went out to the husband last week. “So far, he hasn’t responded,” Spinnell said.
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