Avoiding Legal Trouble

4 Tips For Serving A Defendant With A Summons

There are many situations where deals may be made between people, loans are made, or the terms of a lease are not fulfilled. If you're at the wrong end of a financial agreement you made with another person, you can take him or her to small claims court for most cases. Depending on the amount of your lawsuit, you may be able to file a lawsuit in a higher court. But before you see the defendant in court, he or she needs to be served official papers notifying him or her about the lawsuit. Continue reading to learn more about ensuring that your complaint is properly served to the defendant.

Don't Miss Deadlines

After filing a lawsuit in court, you have a limited time to serve the defendant with summons. If you miss deadlines, your complaint can be dismissed. It is very important to understand the terms of your complaint and serve the defendant with ample time. The more you underderstand your lawsuit and complaint, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome.

How to Serve Papers

If you're filing a lawsuit, it is important to know that the official written complaint that has been filed in court must be delivered to the defendant in person. Do not think that you can send a complaint through mail, email, or any other method. If you can't serve the papers in person, yourself, you will need to make other arrangements.

Delivery

When you're not able to give someone a summons in person, you will need to have your complaint personally delivered. In some areas, you can request to have a sheriff or constable serve lawsuit papers. But most people hire a process server to deliver summons or notice of a lawsuit. When you hire a process server, he or she will personally deliver the paperwork to the defendant at home, or even at work, if needed. 

Proof of Delivery

A lawsuit has dates and timelines that must be followed. Luckily, when you hire a process server, the defendant can't claim that he or she did not receive the paperwork informing him or her of a lawsuit. Process servers who serve summons must fill out an affidavit of service that outlines the date, time of day, and details of the service. When you hire a process server, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that your summons or paperwork for a lawsuit has been delivered.

For more information, talk to a company such as AAA Attorney Service Co Of Ny Inc.


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