If you are unable to serve the documents yourself, you can have someone else (such as a friend or a process server) serve the documents for you. Whoever serves the documents might have to give you an affidavit of service, which is a sworn statement confirming how and when they served the documents. See the section Proving Service for more information on the affidavit of service.
Process servers
Process servers are companies that you can hire to serve court documents. You do not need to use a process server, but some people find it easier to do so. You will need to tell the process server how you want them to serve the documents.
When deciding whether or not to use a process server, keep in mind:
- The cost of hiring a process server will usually start between $80-$200 for each person that you have to serve.
- That fee will cover a few tries to serve the person (usually three). However, you should clarify this with the company you want to hire.
- It may be more expensive to serve people in remote places.
- Some process servers may ask you to pay some money up front.
Hiring a process server may be a good idea if you do not have time to serve the papers yourself or if you think it may be hard to track someone down. However, process servers are expensive so it may be a good idea to serve the papers yourself if you can.