A New York court recently ruled that divorce papers can be sent over Facebook after a woman had difficulty locating her husband.
Ellanora Baidoo and Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku never lived together, although they were married in a civil ceremony in 2009.
Both parties are from Ghana, and the marriage reportedly collapsed after Blood-Dzraku refused to have a traditional Ghanaian ceremony.
The couple kept in touch through Facebook and phone calls, but Blood-Dzraku used a prepaid phone and moved out of his last known address in 2011.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper found that the post office has no forwarding address for the husband, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles has no record of him.
"He has also refused to make himself available to be served with divorce papers," Cooper wrote in his decision.
Baidoo's attorney, Andrew Spinnell, said his client even hired a private investigator to find her husband, with no luck. Now, Spinnell can send the divorce notice via Facebook messaging.
"This transmittal shall be repeated by plaintiff's attorney to defendant once a week for three consecutive weeks or until acknowledged," Judge Cooper said.
One message has already been sent to Blood-Dzraku, with no response. Nevertheless, Spinnell said the ruling was groundbreaking.
"I think it's new law, and it's necessary," he insisted.
Cooper acknowledged that courts have allowed email to be used as a legal means of serving summons over the past decade, and considered social media legal notifications the "next frontier."
Spinnell said Baidoo just wants her life back.
"She wants to be free," he told USA TODAY Network of his 26-year-old client. "She's happy that the court has provided a mechanism for her to obtain a judgment of divorce so she can marry someone else if she chooses."
