When you’re involved in a legal matter, one of the first steps is the formal delivery of legal papers, known as “service of process.” This is carried out by a professional known as a process server. The server’s main goal is to hand over the legal documents to the person or entity named in those papers. If multiple attempts yield no success, the process server may resort to alternative methods like leaving the papers with another adult at the location or publishing the notice in a local newspaper.
Frequency of Service Attempts
If the process server doesn’t locate you on their initial visit, they won’t stop there. They’ll make additional attempts to serve you. The number of these attempts can vary based on several factors:
- The internal guidelines of the process serving agency
- The time remaining until the court hearing
- Any special circumstances that might apply
Is There a Cap on Service Attempts?
In Florida, there’s no legal limit to the number of times a process server can try to serve you at your residence. However, most process servers typically limit themselves to three attempts before considering alternative methods.
What Happens If You’re Unreachable?
If the process server has made multiple visits to your home and other places you frequent, without success, they will then seek judicial approval for an alternative form of service. The two most common alternative methods are:
Service by Substitution: Here, another responsible adult at your primary residence is served the papers on your behalf.
Service by Publication: In this case, a public notice is placed in a local newspaper for a specified period.
For both alternative methods, copies of the legal documents will also be mailed to your primary residence.
Do You Need Process Service in the Panhandle?
If you’re in Pensacola, Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Milton, or Mobile and need professional process service, document retrieval, skip tracing, or diligent search services, contact Accurate Serve at (850) 264-2917 or send us a work request online.
