It is important to know where your spouse lives so that you may provide your spouse with notice of the filing of a divorce complaint. However, for some, this is impossible. In North Carolina, you can file a petition with the court seeking permission to serve your spouse with notice of the divorce by publication. Service by publication involves running an ad in the local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks with the hope that your spouse will see the ad and respond to the lawsuit. After you have completed the publication requirement, the court may ask you to complete an Affidavit of Publication assuring the court that you completed the necessary requirements for publication. Before the court will allow you to serve your spouse by publication, the court will want to be assured that you tried every possible method to locate your spouse including searching through the phone book or contacting old friends and family members of your spouse. If you have additional questions about how to file for divorce in North Carolina, contact an experienced attorney. In addition, see http://www.ncbar.org/media/2592932/divorceseparation.pdf. There are several ground for divorce in North Carolina, read http://www.freelegalaid.com/nav/north-carolina/divorce/article/what-are-grounds-divorce-north-carolina for more information.