​Personal service of process has been the hallmark for initialing litigation for nearly 100 years primarily because it guarantees actual notice to a defendant of a legal action against him or her.

The Courts
It is estimated that more than 30% of the U.S. population is now served by courts that either already have or are in the final stages of transitioning to an electronic courthouse. It seems that 30% is just the beginning and the pace at which courts are moving in this directions is quickening. This change has required courts, their constituents and justice partners to rethink how they interact with the courts and how to do business more efficiently. The court constituents now enjoy electronic filing, electronic service between represented parties, electronic alerts/case events, electronic docket sheets and case management tools, all of which have arguably forever changed the way one interacts with a digital court.

At first glance process service seems an easy part of the litigation process. Few are the ones who understand the importance of the service of process requirement to the outcome of a lawsuit. Proper service on a party and a correct affidavit of service filed with the court ensure that the parties to the action have been notified as prescribed by the court system. Failure to complete this process may result in a delay, breach of duty or termination of an otherwise successful trial.

​Going back to basics, delivering legal papers is called service of process. The law says that legal papers have to be delivered the right way. Every adult and organization listed in the case must be served with its own set of papers. If legal papers are not served the right way when a case is started, the Judge may make the party starting the case start all over again. This is called a dismissal without prejudice. There are three general ways to deliver legal papers to start a case.

According to the due process of the law, each person has a right to be notified if legal action is taken against them and also has a right to know if court actions are taken in their case. To ensure that everyone is adequately informed of court actions, the law stipulates that legal documents pertaining to these actions must be delivered in person. In most states anyone over the age of majority who is not part of the case can act as a process server and deliver the legal documents. Sounds simple? It is not, but a professional process server at Associated Services can help you navigate through the rules of the law that govern your particular type of legal case and make sure that the documents are served right the first time. ​

​Legal papers must be served the right way! There are no exceptions to that rule, and when family court matters are involved, there is a lot to take into consideration in order to ensure that the legal documents were properly served and the affidavit correctly executed.

There are many different Family Court Matters – divorce summons and complaints, child support summons and petitions, child support collection enforcement, petitions for visitation. The process server who handles the case must be very knowledgeable about the rules that apply to each case depending on the filing court and the docket (case) letter.

At Associated Services we look at each Family Court case separately before we send it out with the process server. We make sure that we apply the correct rules for service permissible by the court, and in case of court orders signed by a Judge, we carefully follow the instructions stated in the paperwork, adhering to time frames and deadlines.
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Here are a couple of Family Court cases we have successfully resolved: