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Serving the Defendant
Servicing Complaint:
Here it is. You are standing for yourself you hired an attorney and you filed a law suit against the party who wronged you. You are the petitioner in a law suit. Whether is that a civil law suit or a family law suit, such as divorce, our law requires that the other party gets served, with the right to respond. Your defendant is avoiding service! What can you do?
Every defendant has allotted period of time from the time he or she has been served, to respond to the complaint. This service is a notice that the law suit is pending agains them. What happens next?
Some Defendants try their best to take advantage of this law and will flee, hide, or simply become extremely difficult to find if they suspect someone is trying to sue them.
Ways to Serve the Opposing Party:
There are three options that are available to you when the defendant is evading service. The first one is doing it by yourself, either via postal service by using the required signature receipt, or by the acceptance of service that is signed and notarized by the defendant. Either the affidavit with the receipt, or notarized acceptance is then filed at the court. Needless to say, this may nor work at all if your defendant is avoiding the service.
The second option is to hire a private process server, who delivers complaints to defendants and performs document retrievals on petitioner’s behalf. This option is not free of charge, of course, but it is the most feasible option, considering that the process server also files a proof of service for you.
Process servers also perform skip traces to track down defendants by using technology and surveillance techniques. When someone is truly committed to evading service, this is often the only option available as it gets the service done the fastest possible way within the circumstances.
Service by Publication:
When your defendant cannot be found or is deliberately hiding, the address is unknown, you can request a service by publication. As petitioner, you will run an ad in a local paper announcing the lawsuit in order to “serve” the defendant in the case. Service by publication is possible in most family law cases, such as divorce or child custody, but not in all civil cases. Serving someone by process server will always ensure that you avoid legal issues that can arise down the line with service by publication.
I can recommend the best process servers in your county. I help self-litigants with the entire process, including the service.
I am Certified & Licensed with the Arizona Supreme Court to prepare legal documents in the State of Arizona. I have an Associates Degree in Paralegal Studies from the Accredited American Institute of Paralegal Studies with an emphasis on Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
I stand by my quality and professionalism in the preparation of your legal documents. You can be assured that your information will be kept confidential and your paperwork will be accurate & complete. I am also a State of Arizona Notary, making frequent trips to the Courts for filing, so your legal docs will be done quickly & efficiently.
If you have any questions, just call!
~ Debbie Sinno
602-769-1585
