What Happens When Someone Can’t Be Served?

Are you having a hard time getting someone served so that your case can move forward in the courts? Well, we are here to tell you that the vast majority of papers are eventually served. No matter how difficult someone makes it to be found, most people can be found eventually through the diligence of private process servers and private investigators. 

Yet there are those rare occasions when someone cannot be located to serve the papers in a timely manner, and the court wants to either move forward or dismiss the case. When that happens, you still have some options to keep your case moving forward and potentially receive a default judgment in your favor.

Once all avenues have been exhausted and the papers have not been able to reach their intended party, you may go to the judge with evidence of your investigation and efforts. If the judge agrees that you took all reasonable measures to attempt to find the party, they may offer an alternative method of service.

The most common alternative method of service is service by publication. Certain information has to be included in your advertisement, which must be a minimum size and length, published in a local newspaper in the appropriate section of that paper’s classifieds section. The ad must run for the required amount of days. After that deadline, if no response has been given, then the case can move forward with a summary judgment.

If you have had a hard time getting papers served, you want to make sure that you have made every possible effort to locate the individual. If you would like us to use skip tracing, private detectives, and other means to attempt to serve your papers before going to the judge for alternative service, contact us today to get started.