What do you say when serving court papers?

What do you say when serving court papers?

Tell the server to: Give the papers to a responsible adult where the Defendant lives, or to someone in charge where the Defendant works. Say, “These are court papers.” Then, mail (first-class) a copy of the papers to the Defendant at the same address where s/he left the papers.

Why do divorce papers have to be served by someone else?

Providing your spouse notice of the divorce is essential: if you don't serve your spouse, the court can't issue any orders and can ultimately dismiss your case. Many spouses wonder if they can just hand their spouses the divorce paperwork. In most states, the answer is no, you may not deliver your own divorce papers.

Can you serve papers to a family member?

Family members and significant others (boyfriends/girlfriends) cannot serve the documents. You can ask a neutral person to serve the documents, or you can hire the sheriff or a private process service to serve the documents for a fee.