What is a Proof of Service?
A proof of service is a form used to notify the court that the person, business, or public entity you are suing has been given a copy of your court papers.
How is Service Done?
Personal Service means someone gives the papers directly to the person being sued or to the agent authorized to accept service (business or public entity).
Substituted Service means someone gives the papers to an adult where the person lives, works, or receives mail (including a private post office box, but not a U.S. Postal Service P.O. Box. We can get address data for P.O. Boxes)
What if the court papers do not get served?
Your case can’t go on until the court papers are served. You may be able to reschedule your case for additional time to serve.
Can the court serve the papers for me?
It depends. The court can send a certified letter to the person you are suing. The problem is if the person doesn’t sign the receipt or doesn’t sign their complete name. The court may not accept this service. You would still have to serve again with personal or substituted service.
Who can serve?
A Process Server, the sheriff or anyone over the age of 18 who is not named in the case can serve your legal papers. A process server and a sheriff are going to charge a fee for service. Good news is that you may be able to recover fees paid to serve the person. You best bet is to hire us to serve your legal paperwork. The sheriff’s department civil division success rate is much lower than ours.
How is personal service done?
You will email us a copy of your papers to be served. We will email you an invoice with a link for online payment. We will contact the person and say “these are court papers”, hand the papers to the person. We usually drop the papers at their feet if they don’t take them. After service we will complete the proof of service form. We email you a copy of the signed proof of service and mail the original to you via first class mail. Hiring a qualified process server to serve your documents is the best choice.