As I discussed in my prior post, the legal concept of “serving process” on the opposing party in a divorce is a very big deal.
In my prior post, I discussed service of process by the opposing party acknowledging that they were served, signing a pre-approved form, and then sending the form back to the petitioner. Talking with a qualified family law lawyer can save you big headaches when considering proper service of process. As I stated, the problem with this way of serving process is that, often times, the husband or wife who is receiving the documents may decide to simply ignore them.
An alternative approach to solve the ignored service of process problem is the utilization of a private process-server and/or a county sheriff. In many states, process can be served by private individuals or companies. The company will actually go to the opposing party’s home and hand them the legal paperwork. Simple enough, right?
Although simple, the private process-server costs money. Costs for private service of process can vary quite a bit and can range anywhere from $50.00 t0 $100.00. Naturally, the costs of a private process-server tend to add up.
If your family law lawyer asks you to pay a larger up-front fee or “retainer” it may be because the lawyer needs to cover the costs of private service of process. This is a constant issue in the practice of law and is something all lawyers are keenly aware of.
When talking to your lawyer or simply trying to conduct your own “pro se” legal case, you need to be aware of the necessity of service of process. The private process-server or county sheriff is one way to solve the problem. However, you need to be aware of the costs of doing so.
This post was written by Joseph M. Flanders, an Apple Valley MN lawyer.
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