Out-of-state deposition
- 1Subpoena Domestication
- same file
- 2Service of Process
- no re-intake
- 3Document Retrieval
Three quick selections — we’ll lay out the governing framework for your state, where it files, and a step-by-step timeline.
Six situations attorneys lose sleep over. Open any one for the obstacle, the play, the authority it rests on, and what lands on your desk.
They’re watching for the server — ignoring the bell, having someone else answer, leaving at odd hours.
Documented diligence is the predicate for alternative service in essentially every state — no court authorizes posting, mail, or email until you can show personal delivery was genuinely attempted. What differs is the threshold: how many attempts, at what hours, and whether the rule is self-executing or needs a motion first. We build the record to the standard of the state where service is happening.
A diligence affidavit that supports your motion — or a completed affix-and-mail proof, including the mailing that completes it.
The LLC’s registered agent has resigned, the listed address is a dead mailbox, or the entity never appointed one at all.
Every state provides a channel that does not depend on finding an agent — but the trigger differs, and that difference decides your filing. Some states designate the Secretary of State as statutory agent for every registered entity from the outset, so service there is complete on delivery. Others open that route only once an agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence — meaning the diligence has to be documented before you can use it. We identify which rule governs and establish whatever predicate it requires.
Service on the registered agent — or the Secretary of State — with an affidavit that names the statutory basis.
A doorman, concierge, or gate guard refuses to let the server past the lobby or gate to reach the defendant’s door.
Where a server is refused entry, courts in many states treat the outer bounds of the dwelling as extending to wherever that progress is arrested — so service on the person who blocks the way can stand. It cuts both ways: where the gatekeeper does not bar entry, serving him instead of going to the door can sink the service. Which of the two happened is a fact question, so we paper it precisely.
A defensible affidavit describing the access denial and the service at the point of refusal — plus the follow-up mailing that completes substituted service.
The only address you have is months old — they’ve moved on with no forwarding information.
Service at a confirmed current dwelling or place of business is what survives a challenge — serving a stale address is what gets it vacated, often months later and after the limitations period has run.
A verified current-address locate report, then service and a court-ready affidavit.
Your matter is venued in one state, but the witness or the records sit in another — where your home-state subpoena has no force.
The UIDDA — now adopted in every state except Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Hampshire — makes the clerk’s issuance ministerial rather than discretionary. A handful of states go further and let an in-state attorney issue directly. We file, get it issued, and serve, end to end.
A domesticated subpoena, served, with the return affidavit — handled start to finish.
Your defendant or witness is abroad, and casual service won’t be recognized by a U.S. court — or the foreign one.
Service that follows the treaty or the receiving country’s law is what both the U.S. court and the foreign court will recognize. One wrinkle worth knowing: the Convention does not apply at all where the address of the person to be served is unknown — which is where a locate comes first, and where court-ordered alternative service under FRCP 4(f)(3) becomes available.
Properly channeled international service with the certificate or proof your court requires.
Procedure, court of filing, and fees differ in every state — the matter check at the top of this page shows the governing framework for yours, and each state page covers the local rule in full.
Not eight vendors — one file, one point of contact, and an unbroken chain of custody from the first locate to a document that works abroad.
Most of them do. Tell us what you’re working on and we’ll map the services it actually needs — and the ones it doesn’t.
Call (800) 321-2377One written quote before any work begins — and nothing advanced on your behalf until you’ve authorised it. Procedure and court of filing vary by state; the matter check at the top of this page shows the governing framework for yours.
What it costs, who holds your file, and how you’ll hear from us — settled up front, not after the invoice.
These are the terms on every matter — not a promotion, and not a first-time rate.
Nothing starts, and nothing is owed, until you’ve seen the number.
Send us the matterOr talk to a person — (800) 321-2377
Litigators, carriers, collectors, landlords, in-house teams and agencies — what each one sends us, and what goes back.
| Who | What they send us | What goes back |
|---|---|---|
| Law firms | Defendants who are dodging service, witnesses in another state, and motions that have to be filed against a date. | Court-ready affidavits, domesticated subpoenas, and conformed copies back in hand. |
| Insurance | Insureds and claimants who have moved on, and volume that has to be handled the same way in every state. | A verified locate first, then service, with the same defensible affidavit on every file. |
| Collections & financial | Debtors who cannot be found at the address on file, garnishments, and post-judgment work. | The locate, the service, and the return filed with the issuing court. |
| Real estate | Evictions and notices to quit, where the local housing rule decides whether the service stands. | Service performed to that jurisdiction’s rule, with the proof filed and a copy to you. |
| Corporate & in-house | Entities to be served through a registered agent, and documents that have to work in another country. | An affidavit that names its statutory basis, and authenticated documents ready for use abroad. |
| Government | Service that has to survive review afterwards, and certified records pulled from the source. | A complete documentation trail, and certified or exemplified copies delivered. |
| Pro se & self-represented | Papers a court has directed them to serve, with no firm behind them to get it done. | Service completed to that court’s rule, and a proof of service ready to file. |
Something more tangled? That’s our favourite kind — tell us about it.
Read them closely. NAPPS grants membership, not accreditation — so we say member. Not every state licences process servers — so we say licensed where a licence is required. What a firm can check is worth more than what we could have claimed.
Every quote below carries Trustpilot’s Verified label, and is reproduced word for word — punctuation included.
Seriously, the best process servers, especially for those pesky out of state serves!
They were extremely helpful, quick, and did everything we needed to get done.
I’ve used them twice now and would again.
Trustpilot doesn’t let a company pay to hide reviews it dislikes. So the unflattering ones are on there too — go and read those.
Read every review“Verified” is Trustpilot’s own label, applied when it can confirm a business interaction took place. It is not a check of the reviewer’s profession, and not a fact-check of anything they say.
The eight we are asked most, answered in the first sentence.
Same-Day and Next-Day rush tiers for true deadlines, with Preferred and Routine windows for everything else. Every one of those windows runs to the first attempt, not to completion — a subject who is out of town moves the finish line, not our dispatch. You see the window in writing before work begins, and every attempt as it happens.
We skip trace to a current address, re-attempt at varied days and times, and — when personal service will not land — pivot to the statute-correct alternative for that jurisdiction. Every attempt is logged, because documented diligence is what a court looks for when service is challenged.
All 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Out-of-state subpoenas are domesticated under the UIDDA and served in the witness’s home state. For documents headed overseas, we handle Hague Convention service and, for non-Hague countries, embassy or consular legalization.
A court-ready affidavit, formatted to your court’s requirements, backed by time-stamped, address-verified attempts and a documented record of diligence — the record you want in hand if service is ever challenged.
Yes. The fee is for diligent effort, not a guaranteed outcome — and you still receive a documented affidavit of non-service, which is filable and often exactly what a motion needs. If the address was bad or the subject evaded, we tell you what we would do next — a corrected address, skip tracing, alternative service — and quote it before we take it.
Send your documents and the details, and you get one written quote before any work begins — free, and with no obligation to proceed. Work starts once you approve it. Court and agency costs are advanced on your behalf, and never before you have authorised the number.
Yes — locate, serve, file, retrieve, notarize, and authenticate, all on one file. Filings go through the court’s required channel, electronic or in person at the counter. Records come from the docket or a field agent at the clerk’s window, certified or exemplified to whatever your matter needs.
No. Served 123 LLC is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. We execute what you instruct — service, filing, retrieval, notarization, authentication — and leave strategy, deadlines, and rule compliance to your counsel.
Not here? The full set lives on our FAQ page, or call (800) 321-2377.
Send the documents and the details. You get one written quote before anything begins — across all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and abroad.
The documents and whatever details you have. No account, and nothing to set up first.
One written quote covering the work and the costs. Nothing is owed until you have seen it.
One coordinator, one file number, and the proof your court needs at the end of it.