This process server FAQ answers 139 questions about all eight of our legal support services, from serving papers and subpoenas to skip tracing, court filings, records, notary, apostille and courier work, plus ordering, results and billing, in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
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Up to three attempts at each address, with an email after each one.
The attempts fall on different days and at different times of day, to reach the person when they are home or at work. Sometimes fewer are needed. Each address is its own service, so a second address gets its own attempts.
Delivers court papers to a party in the way the law requires, then signs a sworn record of it.
Service gives the person formal notice of a case or a subpoena, which is what lets the court go forward. The server makes the attempts, hands over the papers and signs the return of service that proves it.
It depends on the county, the speed you choose and the number of parties.
Every option includes up to three attempts at each address, an email after each one and a signed return. Starting rates for every speed are on our pricing page, and your written quote prices the actual address.
Four options, slow to fast, each timed to the first attempt.
Routine makes the first attempt in 5–7 business days, Preferred in 2–3, Next-Day within 2 business days and Same-Day the same business day, subject to local field coverage. Each window counts from the day your payment is received. The options are on our pricing page.
It depends on the state. A few restrict Sundays or legal holidays.
Most states allow service any day of the week, while some bar Sunday or holiday service for most papers. Our servers follow the rule where the papers are served, and the return records the date and time of service.
Yes. Handing the papers to the person at work is valid service.
An employer can refuse a server entry, so a work address goes best with the person’s schedule, a description or the entrance they use. Give us both a home and a work address when you have them.
Tell us at intake. Access is arranged before the attempt, not assumed.
A gate code, a unit number or the name of building management makes access far easier. Where a guard or doorman will not let the server in, the attempt records it, and the server works with the gate, the front desk or management on the next attempt.
Attempts continue at varied times, and each one is documented.
When someone will not come to the door, the record of every attempt matters. If service still fails, the signed affidavit of non-service lists each attempt, which is what a court reviews before allowing another method, such as posting or publication.
Leaving the papers with another responsible person, where the state allows it.
Many states allow service on an adult who lives at the person’s home, and some allow a person in charge at their workplace. Several then require a copy to be mailed as well. The return records who received the papers and how.
Attaching the papers to the door and mailing a copy, where the law allows it.
Posting is allowed only where a statute permits it for that kind of case, often after diligent personal attempts, or where a court orders it. It is never the default: personal attempts come first.
Yes. A company is usually served through its registered agent.
The agent and address come from the state’s business records. Where no agent can be found there, the rule may allow service on an officer or a manager, or through the state office it names, and the affidavit records the diligence that requires.
The court’s deadline, which starts when the case is filed.
In federal court it is generally 90 days after the complaint is filed. States set their own deadlines, some shorter, so check the rule for your court and leave time for more than one attempt.
Only where the law allows it, usually after personal attempts.
Leaving papers at a door is posting, which a statute or a court order has to permit. Handing them to the person, or to another adult at the home where the state allows it, comes first.
Where both are allowed, a private server usually offers more attempts, more flexible timing and an update after each one.
Sheriffs serve papers alongside many other duties. A private server works the address on varied days and times. Where a court or a type of paper requires the sheriff, the papers go through that office.
Yes, on request. Access is arranged with the facility first.
Prisons, jails and military bases each set their own terms for visitors and legal papers. Tell us the facility at intake, and the quote reflects what that facility requires.
Yes, in some courts and for some papers, such as certain writs.
Where a court or a type of paper calls for a sheriff, marshal or constable, the papers go through that office. We tell you before you order rather than send a server whose return the court would refuse.
Yes, quoted case by case.
Service abroad follows the destination country’s rules, often through the Hague Service Convention, and its timing is set by that country’s authorities. Certified translation is arranged where the country requires it.
In most states, service still counts once the server identifies the papers and leaves them with the person.
A person cannot avoid service by refusing to take the papers in hand. The server says what they are, leaves them within the person’s reach and records the refusal on the return.
Only where the state allows it, and many states set a minimum age.
Substituted service needs a person of suitable age who lives there, and several states name the age. The server follows the rule where the papers are served, and the return records who received them.
No, but a description helps the server find the right person.
An age range, height, hair, a vehicle or a work schedule all help. The server confirms the person’s name before handing over the papers.
Yes. Each person is their own service, all on one quote.
Two defendants at different addresses, or a company and its officer, can sit on one order. Each gets its own attempts and its own signed return.
Having your subpoena issued again in the witness’s state, so it can be enforced there.
A subpoena from one state’s court has no force over a witness in another state. The witness’s state issues its own subpoena with the same terms, and that one is served. See subpoena domestication.
Whenever your witness or records sit in a different state than your case.
A deposition, a records request or a trial appearance from someone outside your case’s state all need it. Your local subpoena is the starting point.
The Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, a simpler route most states use.
In a state that has adopted it, you submit the foreign subpoena to the clerk, and the clerk issues a local one, with no lawsuit filed there. Details still differ: which court, what form and what the clerk charges. A few states have not adopted it and use their own procedure, such as a petition. Each state’s page sets out the route.
Your issued subpoena, the witness’s details and the case papers it relies on.
Send the signed subpoena, any notice of deposition and the witness’s name and address. Counsel’s contact details for every party go on the papers in many states, so include those as well.
Yes. The court’s fee to issue the subpoena is included.
The quote is one price for the domestication, the court’s fee and service on the witness. A witness fee, where the state requires one with the subpoena, is its own line.
Yes. A local server serves the witness, and you get the signed return.
You receive the issued subpoena and a signed return of service. If the witness cannot be served at the address, the affidavit of non-service lists the attempts.
Many states require a fee, and sometimes mileage, with the subpoena.
The amounts are set by each state and change from time to time. Our witness fee guide lists the fee in every state, and the quote shows it on its own line.
Your court issues a new subpoena with a new date, and that one is submitted.
A clerk will not issue a subpoena that commands a date already gone. Give us the latest workable date at intake, and if it slips, send the reissued subpoena and we continue from there.
Objections go to the court in the witness’s state and are for counsel.
A motion to quash or modify is a legal matter between the parties and that court. We pass on anything the witness says to the server and leave the response to you.
It depends on the court that issues the local subpoena.
Some clerks issue the subpoena at the counter, while others send it to a judge for review first. We submit it as soon as the papers are complete, follow it until it issues and tell you the day it does.
Usually not. A few states have a local attorney issue the subpoena.
Under the UIDDA, most clerks issue the subpoena without local counsel. Where a state routes it through a local attorney instead, we arrange that step and include it in the quote.
Yes. A records subpoena follows the same route as one for testimony.
A subpoena for documents, with or without a deposition, is issued in the witness’s state and served there. The custodian then produces the records under its terms.
No. A federal court’s subpoena can be served in any state.
Federal subpoenas are issued by the court where the case is pending and can be served nationwide, so they go straight to service. We arrange that service like any other.
Usually, yes, under the rules of the court where your case is pending.
Many courts require notice to the other parties before a subpoena for records is served. That notice comes from you or your counsel; tell us if service should wait until it has gone out.
Yes. Each witness gets their own subpoena, all on one quote.
Witnesses in different states, or several in one county, can be handled together. Each subpoena is issued and served on its own, with its own signed return.
A search for a person’s current address when the one you have is out of date.
It locates a party or witness who has moved, so the papers go to an address where they live now. See skip tracing.
Public records and commercial data sources, with the source behind each finding.
You get a written report of what the search found and where each finding came from, so you can judge how current it is.
No search can promise that. The report says what was found.
Most people leave a trail of records, but some do not. When a search finds nothing current, the report says so, and you decide the next step.
Yes. The search comes first, then service at the address it finds.
A new address is quoted as its own round of service, so you approve it before a server goes out.
Lawful purposes, such as locating a party or witness for a case.
We decline requests that look like harassment, stalking or anything else the law does not allow, and we may ask what a search is for.
A flat fee per search, listed on our pricing page.
Other searches, such as asset or background searches, are quoted on their own. See the pricing page.
The person’s full name and the last address you have.
A date of birth, a former employer, a phone number or a relative’s name all narrow the search. The more you send, the more confidently the report can tie an address to the right person.
As current as the records behind it, and the report dates each finding.
Records update at different speeds, so the report shows when each address was last reported. A recent date carries more weight than an old one.
Yes. Privacy laws limit who can use certain data and for what.
Results are for locating a party or witness in a legal matter. They cannot be used for employment, tenant or credit decisions, or to contact someone for any purpose the law forbids.
No. A search reviews records and contacts no one.
Nobody is called or visited during a search. The first contact, if any, is the server’s attempt at the address you choose to serve.
The report lists each one with its date, and you choose where to serve.
The most recent address is usually the best lead. Each address you choose is its own round of service, quoted before a server goes out.
Where records show a death, the report says so.
That finding changes the next legal step, such as serving an estate or a representative, which is a question for you or your counsel.
Documents in state and federal courts, through e-filing or at the clerk’s counter.
Complaints, motions, responses and other papers you have prepared go in through the channel the court requires. See court filings.
File-stamped copies of what was filed.
The stamped copies come back to you by email, along with any receipt or case number the clerk issues.
No. The court’s fee is its own line on your quote.
Courts set their own filing fees, so the quote shows each one on its own line, priced before you approve.
You get the clerk’s notice with the reason, and the corrected papers go back in.
Clerks reject filings for format, missing pages or the wrong fee. Send the corrected papers, and they are submitted again through the same channel.
No. We submit the papers you prepare, exactly as you send them.
Drafting court papers is legal work. We check that the set is complete and in the format the court’s channel accepts before it goes in.
Yes, at the clerk’s office where the court accepts paper filings.
Most federal e-filing runs through each attorney’s own court account. For paper filings, and for courthouse runs with originals, we take the papers to the clerk and bring back the stamped copies.
Yes, the papers you prepare, where the court accepts them from a third party.
Many courts accept filings delivered on behalf of a self-represented party. We submit what you send and return the stamped copies; questions about what to file are for the court’s self-help center or an attorney.
Yes. Filing and service can sit on one order.
Once the clerk stamps the papers or issues the summons, the stamped set goes to a server in the county where the party is, and you receive both the stamped copies and the signed return.
Tell us the deadline at intake, before you approve the quote.
We plan the route around it, e-filing where the court allows it or a run to the clerk’s counter. Acceptance is always the clerk’s decision, so leave room for a correction.
Yes. The summons is picked up once the clerk issues it.
Where the court issues the summons when the complaint is filed, it comes back with the stamped copies, ready to go to a server in the same order.
Yes, where the court asks for one.
Some judges want a paper copy of certain filings. It is delivered to chambers or the clerk as the court directs, with a signed receipt.
Case files, dockets, judgments and other court records, from state and federal courts.
Records come from the docket online or the clerk’s window, whichever the court uses. See document retrieval.
Yes. Regular or certified copies, as you order them.
Certification is done by the court, which sets its own fee for it. That fee is its own line on your quote.
Only when the court allows the requester to see them.
Sealed and confidential records stay closed to the public. A party to the case or an order from the court can open them, and then we retrieve them on those terms.
Per court trip, with copy and certification fees on their own lines.
Several records from the same court can come back in one trip. The starting rate is on our pricing page.
The court, the case number and the names of the parties.
Without a case number, the parties’ names and the approximate year let us search the court’s index. Tell us which documents you need, or ask for the whole file.
Yes, in the court’s public index.
A name search lists the cases filed in that court under the name, so you can choose which files to pull. Common names may need a date of birth or an address to tell people apart.
Yes. Older files are often in storage, and the court sets how they are requested.
Many courts move closed cases to an archive or off-site storage. We place the request the court requires and pick the records up once the clerk has them.
By email as PDFs, with certified copies shipped where you need the paper.
Regular copies are scanned and sent to you. Certified copies keep their seal and are shipped by tracked delivery, since a scan of a certified copy is not itself certified.
Yes, including older files no longer online.
Many federal records are online through the courts’ own system. Older or paper files are pulled from the clerk’s office or from the archive where the court sent them.
Yes, the public parts of the file.
Charging papers, dockets, judgments and other public filings can be retrieved. Sealed or confidential parts stay closed unless the court allows access.
A notary who meets the signer where they are.
At a home, office, hospital or care facility, for acknowledgments, jurats and witnessed signatures. See mobile notary.
A current government photo ID that matches the name on the document.
A driver’s license, state ID or passport works. Unless told otherwise, the signer should wait to sign until the appointment.
Yes, where state law permits it and the receiving party accepts it.
Some recipients, such as certain foreign authorities, accept only a signing done in person. Check with the recipient first, and tell us which you need.
No. The receiving party or your attorney chooses it.
Choosing the certificate is a legal decision. If the document has none, ask the party who will receive it which one they need.
Most documents that need a witnessed, certified signature.
Affidavits, declarations, powers of attorney, consent forms, deeds and contracts are common. A copy of a vital record, such as a birth certificate, can be certified only by the agency that issued it.
No. Leave the signature blank until the notary is there.
For a jurat or a witnessed signature, the signature has to happen in front of the notary. Leaving every signature blank avoids having to print and sign it again.
Some states allow credible witnesses to vouch for the signer.
The rules on credible witnesses differ by state, and some states do not allow them. Tell us at intake, and we confirm what that state accepts before the notary goes out.
Yes, and the apostille can follow in the same order.
A document signed here usually needs an apostille or an authentication before another country accepts it. Ask for both, and they run as one order.
Yes. Tell us the facility and any visiting rules at intake.
Hospitals and care facilities often set visiting hours and sign-in steps. With those in hand, the appointment is set to fit them.
The notary has to stop the signing.
A notary may proceed only when the signer understands the document and signs willingly. If either is in doubt, the signing does not go ahead, so the document is not open to challenge.
A certificate that lets a U.S. public document be accepted in another country.
It is issued for use in countries that belong to the Apostille Convention. See apostille services.
It depends on the country where the document will be used.
Countries in the Apostille Convention accept an apostille. Others need an authentication, followed by legalization at that country’s embassy or consulate, and we arrange both.
Public documents, such as vital records, court records and notarized documents.
Birth and marriage certificates, court judgments, corporate records and notarized powers of attorney are common. Some must be certified copies from the agency that issued them, not originals.
The state for state documents, the U.S. Department of State for federal ones.
A birth certificate or a notarized document is apostilled by the state it came from. An FBI background check or another federal record goes to the U.S. Department of State.
It depends on the issuing office, plus shipping.
Each state’s office, and the U.S. Department of State, sets its own processing time. The document comes back to you by tracked shipping.
The more than 120 countries in the Apostille Convention.
A country outside the convention, such as the United Arab Emirates, needs an authentication followed by legalization at its embassy or consulate instead. Tell us the destination, and we confirm the route.
Private documents do. Public records come from the agency that issued them.
A power of attorney, a letter or a contract is notarized first, and the apostille then certifies the notary. A birth certificate or a court record needs a certified copy from the issuing office instead.
By tracked shipping, or a courier pickup from your office.
Send the original or the certified copy, never a scan. It is returned to you by tracked shipping, or sent straight to the recipient abroad if you prefer.
Often, yes. Many countries want the document in their own language.
Certified translation is arranged with the apostille when the destination requires it, and listed on its own line in the quote.
Yes. Each document gets its own apostille, all on one quote.
A set of corporate records or a family’s vital records can travel together. Documents from different states each go to their own issuing office.
Pickup and delivery of originals, including runs to court.
Each delivery ends with a signed receipt naming who accepted it and when. See courier services.
No. Service has to follow the court’s rules, and a delivery does not.
Papers that start a case or command a person to appear need service by a server, with a signed return. A courier delivery proves only that something arrived.
Yes, including originals the clerk must receive in person.
The run can include a filing at the clerk’s counter, with the court’s fee on its own line in your quote.
Yes. Every handoff is signed for.
From pickup to the person who accepts it, each handoff is recorded, and the signed receipt comes back to you.
Documents, exhibits, original records and court packages.
Signed originals, sealed envelopes, binders of exhibits and anything else that has to arrive in hand. Tell us the size and any handling instructions at intake.
Yes. A pickup and return can be one run.
For example, collecting a signed document from a client and bringing it to your office, or taking papers to a court and returning the stamped copies. Each leg is signed for.
Yes. Tell us at intake, and the wait is quoted with the run.
The courier hands over the papers, waits while they are signed and brings them back, with the signed receipt showing each handoff.
No. Sealed documents stay sealed from pickup to delivery.
The receipt records each handoff, who accepted the package and when, not its contents. Seal the envelope before pickup if it is confidential.
In all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, through a local courier.
Runs are local to the pickup, such as a courthouse or a client’s office in the same area. Tell us both addresses, and the quote covers the run.
We are a litigation support company that handles eight services nationwide, from serving papers to apostilles.
The eight are service of process, subpoena domestication, skip tracing, court filings, document retrieval, mobile notary, apostille services and courier services. One request can combine several of them, and one point of contact keeps the file from intake to the last signed document.
No. We carry out what you instruct and do not give legal advice.
Served 123 LLC is not a law firm, and nothing we say is legal advice. We serve, submit, retrieve, notarize and deliver documents as you provide them. Legal strategy, deadlines and the content of your papers stay with you or your counsel. The disclaimer policy sets this out in full.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Every county, through a local server or agent where the work is. Service in other countries is quoted case by case. The coverage page lists each state with its own rules for service and subpoenas.
Law firms, in-house legal teams, businesses and people handling their own case.
Attorneys and paralegals send most of our work, alongside corporate legal departments, collections and property management teams, and individuals representing themselves. The process is the same for everyone: a request, a written quote, the work and the signed result.
A local process server in the county where your party is.
We arrange each job with a server who works that area, so the first attempt does not wait on a long drive. You deal with us throughout; the server reports each attempt to us, and we pass every update on to you.
Yes. Where a state requires a particular status to serve, our server holds it.
Who may serve differs by state. Some allow any adult who is not a party to the case, while others require certified, registered, licensed or appointed servers. We use servers who meet the rule where the papers are served, and each state’s service of process page names the requirement.
Usually not. Most states bar a party to the case from serving their own papers.
In many states any adult who is not a party may serve, so a friend or relative can, while other states allow only a sheriff or an authorized server. A server with no stake in the case also makes the return harder to challenge. Your state’s page on the coverage page gives the rule.
Yes. Served 123 LLC has been a NAPPS member since 2023.
NAPPS is the National Association of Professional Process Servers, the industry’s national trade association. Membership commits us to its code of ethics for the way service is carried out and reported.
Confidentially. It goes only to the people working on your order.
Your documents and details are shared only with the server, notary or courier assigned to your order, and only what they need to do it. Completed order files are kept for seven years. The privacy policy explains your rights.
No. We handle documents exactly as you send them.
Reviewing papers for legal sufficiency is legal work, so we do not draft, edit or correct them. We do check that we have everything the job needs, such as every page and attachment the court or the recipient expects, and we ask before starting if something is missing.
Yes. Certified translation is arranged when the destination requires it.
Service in another country usually requires the papers in that country’s official language. We arrange certified translation as part of the order and list it on its own line in your quote.
Through the online intake form on the service’s own page, at any hour.
Open the page for the service you need from our services, upload your documents and fill in the details. You can also email them to info@served123.com. Either way, a written quote comes back before any work begins.
The documents, who they are for and where to find them.
For service, send every document to be served, the name of each party, each address you have and anything that helps the server: a description, a vehicle, work hours or a gate code. Add any date the matter has to meet, so we can plan around it.
No. There is no portal to join and no sign-up.
Each order starts with a request and runs by email. Updates, quotes and signed documents all arrive in your inbox.
Upload them with your request, or email them to us.
The intake form takes PDFs and other common files, and email works too. If your firm uses its own secure file sharing, send the link and we will use it.
No. Every order gets a free written quote with each line priced.
The quote lists each service, party and address on its own line, along with any court or agency fee. There is no obligation, and work begins only after you approve and pay it.
When your payment is received.
The quote arrives as an invoice. Once it is paid, the order is dispatched, and every service window counts business days from the day the payment is received.
Yes. Describe the whole matter in one request.
A locate and then service, or a filing followed by a courier run, can sit on one quote. Each service is its own line, and one point of contact handles all of them.
Yes. Tell us as early as you can.
Before dispatch, most changes are simple. Once a server is working the address, a new address or a new set of documents is quoted as its own round before it starts.
Yes, in writing. What applies depends on how far the work has gone.
Email the cancellation so there is a record of it. The refund and cancellation policy sets out what applies at each stage.
Yes. The process is the same, though we cannot give legal advice.
We serve, file and deliver the papers you prepare. Questions about which papers you need, or what to do after service, are for the court’s self-help center or an attorney. Each state’s page on the coverage page explains its rules for service.
Describe it in the request. The quote maps out the route.
Several parties in different states, a witness who has to appear on a set date or papers bound for another country all fit in one request. We read the papers and come back with a written quote for each step the matter needs.
Yes. Tell us the deadline at intake.
Service of process has four speeds, up to Same-Day where local field coverage allows. For every other service, the deadline goes on the quote and the work is planned around it.
No. Send PDFs, and the server prints them.
For large document sets, printing appears as its own line on the quote, so you see it before you approve.
A signed return of service, e-signed or notarized where the state requires it.
It records who was served, where, when and how, and it lists every document that was served. It arrives by email as a PDF.
Yes. Send the form with your order.
Some courts expect their own proof of service form. We prepare the return on it, and the server’s facts fill it in.
You receive a signed affidavit of non-service listing each attempt.
Each attempt is shown with its date and time. From there you can order another round of attempts, quoted before it starts, or a skip trace for a current address, or ask the court for another method of service.
A sworn record of the effort made to serve someone.
Courts usually require one before allowing service by posting or publication. Our affidavit of non-service lists every attempt with its date, time and result, which is the record that motion relies on.
The server reports it, and you get the affidavit and the options.
A skip trace can find a current address, and a new address is quoted as a new round of service. You decide before anything else starts.
By email, after each attempt and as each result comes back.
Every service attempt gets its own update, and filings, retrievals and signed documents arrive as they are done. You never have to chase a status.
Tell us what needs to change, and a corrected return is prepared.
Reply to the email that carried the return and say what is wrong. The server’s facts are checked, and the corrected return comes back to you.
Completed order files are kept for seven years.
If you need a copy of a past return or receipt, email us with the party’s name and the approximate date.
By the service, the location, the speed you choose and the number of parties and addresses.
Your written quote prices the actual county and lists each line. Starting rates for all eight services are on our pricing page.
Up to three attempts at the address, an email after each and a signed return.
Every service option includes the same attempts, updates and signed return. The faster options change only when the first attempt goes out.
Only what the job needs, each on its own line before you approve.
A second party or address, a skip trace, printing for a large document set or a court fee can appear as lines. Anything that comes up after you approve, such as another round of attempts, is quoted before it starts.
Yes. The attempts are the work, and they are documented.
Each attempt is a trip by a server, so the fee covers the attempts themselves. You receive the signed affidavit of non-service, which you can use to ask the court for another method.
For subpoena domestication, yes. For other services, they are their own line.
Filing fees, copy and certification fees and apostille authority fees are set by someone else, so each is listed separately in the quote, priced before you approve.
Online, through the invoice that carries your quote.
The invoice can be paid by card. Law firms can also pay by ACH, by check or from a trust account (IOLTA).
Case by case, once we have worked together.
Orders are normally paid before dispatch. For firms that send regular work, terms can be discussed once a working relationship is in place.
Email us with the invoice number and the line in question.
Write to info@served123.com. We check the order record and reply with what we find.
Yes. The paid invoice is your receipt.
It shows every line and the payment. If your firm needs it addressed or coded a certain way for a client, tell us when you order.
Email your question to info@served123.com or call (800) 321-2377, and you get a straight answer. When you are ready to order, choose the service and send your documents through online intake at any hour.
Every order starts with a free written quote, and work begins only after you approve it.
