In divorce law, a waiver of citation may be used to dispense with some procedural formalities such as formal service of legal papers and transcription of proceedings in uncontested divorces. In the typical lawsuit, one party files and the other gets served with the complaint by a sheriff or process server. In an uncontested divorce the divorce petition may simply be mailed to the other spouse along with a waiver of citation. The husband or wife who signs the waiver is merely acknowledging that he or she has received the divorce petition and does not need to be officially served. The waiver also allows the final divorce hearing to be held without that person being present and says a court reporter does not need to record what is said.
