You must properly serve a copy of the Summons, Complaint, and Notice of Initial Hearing on your spouse. you are responsible for serving your spouse, not the court.
There are three ways documents can be delivered:
- hand delivery or
- certified mail, return receipt requested, or
- plain mail with written acknowledgment of receipt from the defendant
There are other ways to serve the papers, but you must first get the judge’s permission. For more information, see Service of Divorce Papers If You Cannot Locate Your Spouse or If Your Spouse Is Evading Service.
anyone over the age of 18, but not you.
- It can be a family member or a friend.
- You can hire someone to do it. You can hire anyone, or you can hire a professional process server.
- You can’t serve the papers on your spouse.
not. You can not do it. must be another adult.
- The papers should be served directly on your spouse, not someone else.
- There is one exception. the papers can be served on someone “of appropriate age and discretion” who lives in the same household as your spouse. you will need to be able to convince the judge that your spouse lives with this other person.
- if your spouse gives permission, in writing, for someone else to accept the papers, then you can serve that person.
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- not. the only other person who can accept your spouse’s papers is someone he/she actually lives with.
- the only exception is if your spouse has authorized someone else in writing to accept the papers .
Documents can be served on your spouse anywhere you can find your spouse: at home, at work, on the street, at a friend’s house, at the gas station.
- If the person serving the papers tries to give them to your spouse but your spouse does not accept them, it may be enough to drop the papers at your spouse’s feet, if the person serving them can identify them. the person as her spouse and tells her spouse that these are court papers for a divorce. the judge will decide if this is good enough.
- certified mail means that the post office gives you a receipt that proves you sent a letter.
- A “return receipt” is a green postcard that the post office attaches to the letter that the recipient must sign to prove that they actually received the letter. the post office returns the green card to you.
- be sure to keep the proof of certified mail and the green card.
You can mail the documents yourself.
You can mail the documents to any address where you think your spouse will receive and sign them (for example, home or work).
- not. the green card must be signed by your spouse.
- there is one exception. the green card can be signed by someone “of appropriate age and discretion” who lives in the same household as your spouse. you will need to be able to convince the judge that your spouse lives with this other person.
you’ll have to keep trying. you can also try hand delivery. at some point after you have made efforts to notify, you may be able to request permission to notify by other means. For more information, see Service of Divorce Papers If You Cannot Locate Your Spouse or If Your Spouse Is Evading Service.
- You send the documents by first class mail along with (1) two copies of the “Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt” form and (2) a return envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to you.
- Your spouse must sign the acknowledgment for this to be a valid service.
all three methods are allowed. which one will work best depends on your situation. you can try more than one method at the same time.
- You have 60 days from the day you file your divorce papers to serve your spouse.
- If you can’t do it within that time, you can ask for more time. you should ask for more time before the 60 days are up if you can. you can make a request in writing or, if you have your initial court hearing before the 60 days are up, you can ask the judge at that time.
- if you don’t follow these procedures, your case may be dismissed and you will have to file a motion to vacate the dismissal or file a new case and start over.
You must submit proof of delivery in writing, signed by the person who delivered the documents. read the section on filing proof of service in a divorce case to learn what to do next.
Read the section on serving divorce papers if you can’t find your spouse or if your spouse is evading service.