Hiring an Out of State Process Server

Maybe you need divorce papers served, or need to tell the other party they are being summoned to court – but what happens when the other individual lives in another state? No problem, it is quite common to have to serve papers to someone who lives far away from you.

The purpose of serving someone papers is to let them know of an impending lawsuit or court case against them. Many times the named individual lives close by, but not always. The defendant may have moved out of state or left the area to try to outrun the court case.

You will want to hire a process server which is either located in the state where the papers are to be served or a company who handles serving papers in several states.

What to Know

Sometimes the sheriff’s office will serve notice to the defendant, but it is becoming more common to have a licensed process server deliver the court papers. Hiring a professional process server gives you the confidence in knowing the documents will be delivered fast and according to all the laws of the area.

Process servers must follow the different rules and regulations of each state. It is essential to have someone who has specialized training to either know or be able to find out the laws of each location.

Did you know?

• In Florida, the laws regarding process of service differs from county to county
• In Kansas, process servers must request permission from the county clerk before they can contact the named individual
• In Minnesota, papers cannot be served on a Sunday or holiday

It is of utmost importance to work with a process serving company that is familiar with the different laws of each state. Having papers served incorrectly, or illegally, can be a reason to delay or dismiss your case.

What Does the Process Server Need?

Ask any process server how much information they need regarding the named individual, and they will always tell you that the more data they have, the better. Giving your server as much information as possible will speed up the delivery time of your court papers.

Having as much information as possible is always appreciated; here are some examples of data that will help the server deliver the papers as soon as possible.

• Full Name
• Last Known Address
• Nature of Case
• Deadline of Delivery
• Physical Description
• Photographs
• Vehicle Description and License Plate Number
• Work Schedule

Don’t worry if you don’t have all this information on the person to be served; but try to tell the process server as much as you can about the individual.

After serving the documents, the process server will file a Completed Service Affidavit with the courts. An affidavit is a notarized form that states the court papers were delivered to the individual plus the date and time of delivery.

Domesticating a Subpoena Before it can be Served

Often, a subpoena is issued for a person to appear in court as a witness or give information regarding a case. Subpoenas for state-level cases can only be served within that state; so, it gets tricky when the court case is happening in one state, and the person being subpoenaed is in another.

The Uniform Interstate Deposition and Discovery Act (UIDDA) was enacted to allow a fairly simple and straight forward process for issuing subpoenas across state lines, or ‘domesticating the subpoena.’

Over 30 states and Washington D.C. have adopted this standard for working together on domesticating subpoenas.

Under the UIDDA, the attorney will issue the original subpoena. Once it has been determined the named individual is in another state, that attorney must then contact a clerk in the destination state to request a subpoena for the individual residing in that state.

That clerk will then issue a subpoena to the named individual in the destination state. Normally, the witness can give their deposition in their state of residence and does not have to travel to the state where the case is being held.

If the destination state does not recognize the UIDDA, a different process is used. There are several more steps involved, and a request must be made to have the destination courts issue a subpoena; the request can involve filling out an application, submit a formal petition, or have a practicing attorney file the petition.

Once the subpoena is ready, it must be served to the named individual. A national, licensed process serving company can efficiently deliver the papers to the respondent. You do not want to go through all the trouble of domesticating a subpoena only to have it served late or improperly.

One Source Process

At One Source Process, our servers are licensed and knowledgeable of how to properly serve court papers in all 50 states. Your documents will be sent out for service within 24 hours, or sooner if you require expedited service.

A unique service we offer is GPS tracking of all attempts made by our servers. You can see precisely when and where the defendant received the court papers.

Our online Order Form allows you to securely upload the papers that need serving and tell us all necessary information to assist the process server.

That’s it! Our process servers will take it from here and deliver your documents as quickly as possible. You have enough to worry about, let One Source Process handle this.