Service

(Legal Notification)

After we have filed your court papers with the the Court, we must serve the papers on the other party.

Service means giving legal notice to the other party that you have filed court papers. We must provide proof of service to the court.

By completing the steps for service, we tell the court that the other party has received a copy of the court papers. After the other party is served, the other party will be given a time limit to file a Response or Answer (usually 20 days In-State). The Response or Answer is the other party's written statement to your request.

The Response or Answer tells you, and the court, what the other party wants. Most people never file a Response or Answer.  Which is good for you.  It means that you will in most cases get everything you asked for in your paperwork.

There are four ways we can get the documents to the other party in most cases:

A. Service by Acceptance. This method requires you to give, or have us mail, the court papers to the other party and include an "Acceptance of Service" form. The other party must sign the "Acceptance of Service" form in front of a Notary Public and return it to us. The other party cannot sign the "Acceptance of Service" until after you have filed the court papers with the court. The other party's signature on the "Acceptance of Service" does not mean that he/she she agrees with the court papers. It means that the other party admits receiving the papers, without being served in person by the sheriff or a process server. Fee for this service is $0 in most cases.  This is the most common method.

B. Service by Registered Process Server. This method requires us to hire, and pay, a registered process server to serve the other party with court papers. A process server is a person who will give the papers to the other party at home, work, or other location. This method of service costs more than service by acceptance and requires the process server to find the other party. Service is complete at the time the process server hands the other party the court papers. Fee for this service is $75 in most cases. In this method the other party does not have to sign anything.


Process Service may be required if your spouse will not sign voluntarily sign an "Acceptance of Service," stating that they have received their documents. Process server fee (if needed) is approximately $75.00 throughout Phoenix area / $125 in all other areas of the country, Most case do NOT need this service.  Most spouses sign an Acceptance of Service of Process to avoid this cost.

C. Service by Registered Mail. This method of service allows us to give notice by a special type of mail. We can send the court papers by giving the post office copies of the court papers in an envelope, postage prepaid, to be sent to the other party by any form of mail requiring a signed and returned receipt. This is often called Certified Mail, Restricted Delivery by the post office. This means that the other party must sign for the papers.

If the other party signs a receipt (green card) for the papers, the green card will be returned to us in the mail. We must then file an affidavit with the court stating (1) that the court papers were sent to the other party, (2) that the papers were received by the other party, as evidenced by the green card, a copy of which you attach to the affidavit; and (3) the date the party received the documents. Fee for this method is $25. This is a great way to serve someone outside of Arizona.

D. Service by Publication . We may use this method only if you do not know where the other party lives, or cannot find the other party. Service by publication is your "last resort." It is used only if you do not have a current address for the other party and have tried, unsuccessfully, to find the other party.

This method requires that a copy of the "Summons" be published in a newspaper in Maricopa County once a week for four weeks in a row if the other party's last known address was in Maricopa County or the other party's last known address was not in Arizona. If the other party's last known address was in Arizona, but not in Maricopa County, a copy of the summons must be published in a newspaper in Maricopa County, and the county in which the other party's last known address is. To use this method, we must fill out several forms including the "Affidavit Supporting Publication" explaining to the court what you have done to try to find the other party. Service is complete thirty (30) days after the date of the first publication. Fee for this service is $100.

Last updated 02/19/08