Service of Process for Small Claims Cases

1.  Uploaded documents are confirmed as ready and are dispatched to the nearest process server.
2. If you have standard delivery, expect the first attempt within 3-5 business days and 1-2 business days for Rush.
3. Additional attempts are made such that they meet local court diligence requirements. The process server continues to make attempts, recording data about each attempt as they go.
4. Once they are able to make the delivery legally, service is considered complete.
5. Proof of service is signed by the process server and is available in your account. Where required by the court, it will be mailed to you.
   1. If the process server is unable to make the delivery in the number of attempts outlined by courts for due diligence, a return of non-service will be prepared, so that you can seek other options for service as available.

Once you have proof of service for the delivery of your legal documents, it is important that you submit it to the court in accordance with local requirements. Be sure to confirm what the court you initially filed with requires.

Yes, in most cases, we can deliver a summons and complaint for a debt recovery lawsuit. Process servers deliver legal documents alerting people to legal actions in civil court.

Process servers are able to deliver documents for civil court cases, except where special circumstances or laws may apply. For example in certain states, third parties are not allowed on posted private properties. 

Learn more about service of process and process servers here.

Send us your documents and we'll do our utmost to get them where they need to go.  We deliver in all 50 states. ABC Legal has the largest process server network in the U.S. with more than 2.5K active process servers that regularly deliver documents. 

Learn more about our process servers here.

We have a good amount of collections work, so our process servers regularly deal with service of process for collections. More generally, process servers are professional delivery agents and are able to deliver documents for most kinds of cases in civil court.

We have 2.5K process servers who are active in our network - regularly delivering documents, plus more ready and waiting to serve when needed!

Just upload your documents and we'll get them where they need to go.

It's easy. To order service of process, all you need are the documents you need delivered in a digital format, the name of the person you hope to serve and the address you'd like us to go to. If there's anything special you want us to know or do for delivery, you can add additional notes for the process server, such as particular times to try or a description of the party to be served, during the place order process.

Get started here.

ABC Legal is the best value in the industry. We charge a flat fee based on the state where service is desired. Depending on the state, service of process is between $75 and $145 for standard delivery speeds.

Learn more about the quality and value you get with ABC Legal here.

People are not always where you expect them to be. If we try the address you provide and we cannot complete the delivery, we'll tell you what happened so you're able to take the appropriate next steps for your collections case. 

If you know of a second address we can try, perhaps their place of work or another place they could be staying, simply place a new order at that address and note why you think they could be there. To make this easy, if your case was non-served, you will have an Issue, Action Needed in your account. You can add the second address there. This will allow you to place the second order without re-uploading your documents or re-entering your information.

If you're certain that the person lives at the address and should be there, if you are able to provide a photo of the person being served and a person has come to the door during attempts, we can try to confirm their identity using the photo. However, if they are not answering the door, we may not be able to make progress.

When you first place your order, if you know of a day that person may be available you can let us know in the "Additional Notes". If you need us to try at a specific time of day, you may include it, but it will require a special handling fee of $65. If you require us to wait at a house for more than 10 minutes at a property, we can perform a stakeout, for $125, which covers up to an hour at a location. After an hour, there is an additional $1/minute fee, available for up to 3 hours total.

If the process server finds an indication that the person you're looking for resides at the address provided and is avoiding service, you'll have that evidence in your account if you would like to use it to move for alternative service, which may require assistance from an appropriate legal counsel.

It can take multiple attempts to deliver documents in a debt collection case because people aren't where we expect them to be when we knock on the door.

Sometimes, people do actively avoid service. Since we've been doing this for nearly 50 years, we're prepared to handle it.

Our process servers gather details during their attempts to validate residency (confirm that the person we're looking for resides there). That information, like the presence of their vehicle, packages addressed to them, or mailbox labels with their name, is made available to you, even if we can't get the person to come to the door.

With that evidence, you can more easily prove that the party is avoiding service of process and may be able to move for alternative service methods. Since alternative service requires court approval, if it comes to that, you may want to seek legal counsel to ensure you're on track.

Proof of Service, return of service, or an Affidavit of Service is a document that must be filled out to formally record and properly complete legally compliant service of process in most states. The person serving the document signs it, effectively, swearing under oath that service was completed as outlined in the document.  Proof of service is available in your account as soon as it's ready. If your state requires the original signed document, that will be mailed to you.

Once you have proof of service, you must file it with the court where you filed the initial documents. In some states, there is a limited timeline between when the documents are served and the proof must be filed with the court. Be sure to check local court rules to confirm what is required for your case.

Contesting service of process, claiming that service was not performed or was performed improperly can force your case back to the beginning since proper notification is required for the case to be heard in civil court. When that happens, evidence must be presented to validate service of process and a process server may need to appear in court to swear in person to their service of process. This means that getting service right the first time and evidence to support service of process can be crucial for your case.

ABC Legal provides tech-backed evidence of service of process that validates where and when service of process took place. Having GPS coordinates and photos validating service will go a long way in the eyes of the court to prevent service from being contested.