Serving a summons varies by jurisdiction and type of summons. Personal service is common, but restrictions apply. Mail service requires proof of delivery. Publication is a last resort if the defendant cannot be located.
The process for serving a summons differs by jurisdiction and often by the type of summons served. In most cases, the plaintiff in a lawsuit must first determine the best or most appropriate method of serving a summons and, if necessary, pay for a professional citation service or law enforcement agency to physically serve the defendant. Different ways of serving a summons include mail, personal service, and service by publication. Each method is very different and requires certain steps to be taken to establish that the service is legitimate.
In many places, the primary way of serving a summons is through personal service. This means that one person must physically deliver a summons to another person. Some jurisdictions limit who can serve another person with court records, and these restrictions can vary depending on the type of case. Some areas allow any adult over the age of 18 to serve documents, as long as they are not involved in the case. Other jurisdictions are much stricter, only allowing law enforcement agencies to serve a subpoena. In some areas, there is a middle ground that allows private investigators and special process servers, neither of which have law enforcement authority, to serve defendants with a subpoena.
Another method of notifying a meeting is by mail. Some places don’t allow mail service, and those that do often require plaintiffs to take several steps to ensure that the defendant receives the subpoena. This usually includes sending a letter by post in a trackable method. In the United States, this requires that the letter be sent by certified mail or registered mail so that the plaintiff keeps a record of the sending. The defendant must sign for the letter, providing a record proving that the service was performed.
In some cases, it becomes very difficult to track down the accused or get the accused to sign a confirmation that they have received documents. In such cases, the liquidator may be free to leave the writ at or near the defendant’s residence or workplace. The law may then require the server to file an affidavit with the court stating that the service was attempted.
If it is impossible to locate the defendant, a plaintiff may be able to serve the defendant with a notice via a classified ad in a local newspaper. This is the method of last resort, and many judges require that a plaintiff offer a full explanation of all of its efforts to locate the defendant before the judge authorizes the report by publication. The plaintiff will place an advertisement for a number of weeks in the legal notice section of a newspaper and the advertisement will instruct the defendant to take certain steps, such as contacting the court, in order to protect his rights. Once the ad has been running for a specific amount of time, the defendant has been notified and the lawsuit can proceed with or without him.
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