Rory McIlroy’s Estranged Wife Erica Misses Deadline to Contest Divorce, What Happens Next

Transcript

00:00All right, well, new details about Rory McIlroy's divorce have emerged via court documents obtained

00:05by the Belfast Telegraph. So he allegedly hired a private investigator to serve his ex

00:11with divorce papers while she was at their shared home in Jupiter, Florida.

00:15He was in North Carolina at the time to compete in the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour,

00:21which he ultimately won. The Belfast Telegraph further reported that the golfer digitally signed

00:29his motion on May 9th before it was given to Stoll. She has 20 days to file a response to

00:33the filing. Her summons read, a phone call will not protect you. Your written response,

00:38including the case number given above and the names of the parties, must be filed if you want

00:42the court to hear your side of the case. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the

00:47case and your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken without further warning from

00:53the court. So there has not been any further update on the pair's divorce with the May 13th

00:58documents among the last updated in the Palm Beach County Court database. What does it say

01:02that you're hiring a private investigator to serve your ex? Why would you do something like that?

01:09The first pleading or filing in any case usually has to be personally served. Now,

01:14a lawyer can accept service on behalf of the client, but whether it's a lawsuit,

01:19whether it's a divorce petition, that document has to be physically handed to the other party.

01:25Now, there are process servers. There are investigators that do this. I know sometimes

01:30people can get upset when they're served with papers. I think Olivia Wilde was upset when she

01:36was served in a very public way. But sometimes when you can't get a hold of someone, this is

01:41what investigators do. They might lie and say they're delivering flowers or an Amazon package

01:47next thing you know, you've been served. So, you know, I think people don't like it. But if we

01:52wanted to initiate proceedings, this really was the first step. Sure. So this they probably did

01:58reach out on other several occasions to try to serve her and she for it to get to that point,

02:03she probably ignore them. Is that safe to say? Well, one of two things happened. Either she

02:09didn't have a lawyer and said that I won't accept service or she has a lawyer and the lawyer said,

02:15I'm not authorized to accept personal service on behalf of my client. And in that case,

02:21that's where the investigators and process servers come in. Sometimes they'll even do a stakeout,

02:25you know, they'll hide outside someone's home and wait till they walk outside and then serve

02:30them with papers. So there's a whole art to this and there's a whole industry that all they do

02:34is serve documents. So if she doesn't sign these papers, doesn't file the motion, it's pretty much

02:41she could lose this case altogether. So what would she be losing in this instance? Obviously,

02:47we don't know the exact details of what's going down in their divorce, but what is she at stake

02:52to lose? In any case, if you don't file a response or a responsive pleading, you're going to be

02:59defaulted. The judge will only hear one side of the case. And if you don't defend yourself,

03:03that's how you get a default to judgment. You could lose custody, you could lose property,

03:08you could get a judgment against you and people can enforce it by garnishing your wages,

03:13taking your property. So it is very important in any type of case,

03:17civil, criminal, family law, first serve with papers, hire a lawyer and make sure you respond.