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Serving court papers

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Firefly1014

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I'm suing my ex-husband for contempt of court. I had my neighbor serve him the papers last night. She handed him the papers and said "You've been served". He said "I don't think so" and threw them in the street and drove off.

Now what? A friend said he's still been served. It's not my concern he chose to throw them in the street after receiving them. Kind of like when a policeman gives someone a traffic ticket. If the person decides to crumble up the ticket and throw it in the street, it's not the police officer's responsibility to retrieve the ticket for him.

Is that right? Although its not required, I'm going to have the neighbor sign the "Verification of Service" form at the notary's office, just to be certain, so there's no question from the court as to whether he's been served or not.

Most likely, he's going to claim he was never served and not show up on the court date. How's he going to even know the court date when he never opened the envelope to see?
 


Ronin

Member
You can check process requirements, which you probably already have, online at:

231 Pa. Code Rule 440.*Service of Legal Papers Other than Original Process.

http://fjd.phila.gov/pdf/notices/notice-mc-cv-reinstatement_procedures_and_forms.pdf
last page only

He was served, so have your neighbor sign the verification of service. A notarized affidavit briefly outlining the circumstances should be attached to this.

If you are in a hurry this should be sufficient to move forward. But if not in a hurry and prefer to play it safer...You should send a copy to him by certified mail return receipt requested. It will usually be returned in a week or two by the post office if it not picked up. Then you can fill out your own verification of service and attach the post office return receipt to it as the form requests.

At this point you would be in a better position to move forward and establish that you made good faith efforts to ensure he was served.
 

Firefly1014

Junior Member
Thank you for your answer. Certified Mail was one of the options, but I have a pretty good inkling that he will refuse it. That is why I chose personal service. Someone advised me I should serve his attorney. He's had an attorney in the past, but I feel I can't assume who will be his attorney or if he will be retaining one for this matter.

You can check process requirements, which you probably already have, online at:

231 Pa. Code Rule 440.*Service of Legal Papers Other than Original Process.

http://fjd.phila.gov/pdf/notices/notice-mc-cv-reinstatement_procedures_and_forms.pdf
last page only

He was served, so have your neighbor sign the verification of service. A notarized affidavit briefly outlining the circumstances should be attached to this.

If you are in a hurry this should be sufficient to move forward. But if not in a hurry and prefer to play it safer...You should send a copy to him by certified mail return receipt requested. It will usually be returned in a week or two by the post office if it not picked up. Then you can fill out your own verification of service and attach the post office return receipt to it as the form requests.

At this point you would be in a better position to move forward and establish that you made good faith efforts to ensure he was served.
 

Ronin

Member
Certified Mail was one of the options, but I have a pretty good inkling that he will refuse it.
Even so, the receipt and envelope will be returned stamped by the post office indicating it attempted delivery but was unable to. As the verification form stated, you would then attach this receipt to the form. It gives you additional leverage to show the court he was deliberately avoiding service.
 

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