New Jersey lets a summons be left at the defendant’s home with a competent member of the household as young as 14 who lives there (R. 4:4-4(a)(1)), and requires a private server’s affidavit to recite the diligent inquiry into where the defendant lives, works or does business (R. 4:4-7). Served 123 LLC arranges service of Law Division and Chancery Division summonses in all 21 counties through local process servers who are competent adults with no direct interest in the litigation, as R. 4:4-3(a) requires, with up to three attempts per address and an Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service).
Send the Law Division or Chancery Division summons, signed in the name of the Superior Court Clerk, and the complaint online, with every New Jersey address you have for home, work and business.
You get a written quote for that county, with cost and turnaround, before any work begins.
You receive the Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service) naming the person served and the place, mode and date of service.
Request a free written quote. Each address starts in New Jersey. Serving someone in another state? Change the first address’s State and we take you to that state’s page with your entries kept.
New Jersey return: the Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service), the form prescribed under R. 4:4-7, with the facts of the diligent inquiry a private server’s affidavit must include.
Court rules, not a statute, set the New Jersey timeline. R. 4:4-1 expects the summons to issue within 15 days of the Track Assignment Notice, and a late summons lets the defendant move to dismiss under R. 4:37-2(a), without prejudice unless the order says otherwise.
The Special Civil Part runs on a shorter leash: R. 1:13-7(d) has the clerk dismiss as to any defendant not served within 60 days of filing, with automatic reinstatement if service follows within one year.
Service in the Law and Chancery Divisions follows Part IV of the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey (R. 4:4-1 through 4:4-8). Subpoenas follow R. 1:9, subpoenas from other states R. 4:11-4(b), and the Special Civil Part its own R. 6:2-3. Business-entity service adds Titles 2A, 14A and 42 of the New Jersey Statutes.
Summonses shall be served, together with a copy of the complaint, by the sheriff, or by a person specially appointed by the court for that purpose, or by plaintiff’s attorney or the attorney’s agent, or by any other competent adult not having a direct interest in the litigation.
Rules verified October 2026 against the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey published by the New Jersey Courts (R. 1:3-1, 1:4-4, 1:9-1, 1:9-3, 1:9-4, 1:13-7, 4:4-1 through 4:4-8, 4:11-4, 4:14-7, 4:37-2 and 6:2-3, with amendments effective through September 1, 2026), the Affidavit of Service form and its 2002 notice to the bar, and N.J.S.A. 2A:15-30.1, 14A:4-2, 36:1-2 and 42:2C-17 in the full text published by the New Jersey Legislature. General information, not legal advice. The rule or statute controls.
R. 4:4-4(a) calls personal service within the State the primary method of obtaining in personam jurisdiction, and a Served 123 order arranges it along with every other New Jersey route set out here: abode service, corporations and their agents, the LLC filing office, publication, certified or optional mail, service beyond the State and service the court orders. The sheriff and an acceptance of service under R. 4:4-6 are all that sit outside the order.
Every route above, one order.
Get a Free Quote Online →R. 4:4-7 requires proof in the form the Administrative Director of the Courts prescribes. For private service that is the Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service), issued with the September 30, 2002 notice to the bar. The person serving makes the proof on the original process and the copy, and a copy goes to the plaintiff’s attorney.
Proof is filed promptly, within the time the person served has to respond, but a failure to make proof does not affect the validity of service, and an amended proof may be filed (R. 4:4-7, 4:4-8).
For law firms, lenders, collection teams and self-represented parties with a defendant or witness anywhere from Bergen County to Cape May.
Send the Law Division or Chancery Division summons, signed in the name of the Superior Court Clerk, and the complaint online, with every New Jersey address you have for home, work and business.
You get a written quote for that county, with cost and turnaround, before any work begins.
A local process server works the address and notes the date, time and what was found on each visit, so a failed good faith attempt can be described with the specificity R. 4:4-3(a) asks of the proof before mail service.
You receive the Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service) naming the person served and the place, mode and date of service.
New Jersey’s main service deadline is R. 1:13-7: outside receivership, liquidation, condemnation and R. 4:64-8 foreclosure actions, once a case has gone four months (two in general equity) with no proof of service, answer or default on file, the court issues a dismissal notice. Each turnaround counts business days from payment to the first attempt, and a first attempt is not service.
What You Get Back
From Bergen, Essex and Middlesex to Salem and Cape May, find your county on the map or in the list to start a quote.
Each answer names the New Jersey court rule or statute behind it. General information, not legal advice.
Yes, if the teen is 14 or older, competent and lives in the household. R. 4:4-4(a)(1) allows leaving the papers at the dwelling or usual place of abode with such a household member, and R. 4:4-7 has the proof give that person’s name, or a description when the name cannot be learned.
Copy LinkUnder R. 1:13-7, after four months (two in a general equity action) with no proof or acknowledgment of service, answer or default on file, the court sends written notice that the action will be dismissed without prejudice 60 days following the date of the notice, or 30 days thereafter in general equity cases. The rule does not reach receivership, liquidation, condemnation or foreclosure actions governed by R. 4:64-8, or a case where a rule or court order provides otherwise. Filing the proof of service within that period stops the dismissal; after a dismissal, a defendant can be restored by a consent order filed with that defendant’s answer, a case information statement and the fee, or on a motion showing good cause when a properly served defendant declines to sign one; in a multi-defendant case with a served defendant, the consent order is due within 60 days of dismissal, and a motion after 90 days needs exceptional circumstances. If a limitation period is close, ask counsel.
Copy LinkOnly after a reasonable and good faith attempt at personal service fails, and the proof must describe that attempt with specificity. The mailing goes registered or certified, return receipt requested, to the usual place of abode or an authorized person, or to the place of business or employment marked deliver to addressee only. A refusal opens ordinary mail to the abode.
Copy LinkNo. Optional mailed service gives the court jurisdiction only if the defendant answers or appears, and no default may be entered on it. If 60 days pass without an answer or appearance, service must be made another way, and the R. 4:4-1 time to issue the summons starts over.
Copy LinkThe Affidavit of Service (For Use by Private Service), the form the Administrative Director prescribed under R. 4:4-7 and appended to the September 30, 2002 notice to the bar. A private server’s affidavit also states the facts of the diligent inquiry into the defendant’s abode, business or employment. The form carries a “Subscribed and Sworn” jurat and a penalty-of-perjury statement; R. 1:4-4(b) allows a dated certification in lieu of an affidavit the rules require.
Copy LinkUnder N.J.S.A. 42:2C-17(b)–(d), the filing office becomes the LLC’s agent when the company has no New Jersey agent or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the agent’s street address. Duplicate copies go to the filing office, which forwards one to the company’s registered or principal office; service is effected at the earliest of receipt, a signed return receipt, or five days after mailing. A business that failed to register at all may be served on the State official or agency under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-30.1. Section 42:2C-17(f) keeps every other manner of service the law provides.
Copy LinkR. 6:2-3(a) gives in-state personal service to Special Civil Part Officers and other persons authorized by law whom the Assignment Judge designates, and the clerk mails the process by certified and ordinary mail together. If original process is not served within 60 days of filing, the clerk dismisses as to the unserved defendant; serving within one year reinstates the case without a motion, and after a year a restoration order needs good cause and due diligence, a new summons and the re-service fee, and it does not cut off a statute of limitations defense (R. 1:13-7(d)).
Copy LinkThe out-of-state lawyer or party submits the foreign subpoena and a New Jersey subpoena in the name of the Clerk of the Superior Court to an attorney authorized to practice in New Jersey, or to the Clerk or a designee, with the legend “For the Issuance of a New Jersey Subpoena Under New Jersey Rule 4:11-4 (b)” below the case number, and the foreign subpoena goes to the Clerk of the Superior Court as a miscellaneous matter. It is then served under R. 1:9-3 and 1:9-4, on the witness and all parties at the same time, at least 10 days before the scheduled date.
Copy LinkYes, if it seeks only documents or records: R. 1:9-3 allows registered, certified or ordinary mail, but a mailed subpoena is enforceable only once the recipient signs an acknowledgment and waiver of personal service. Hand service is by anyone 18 or older, with the fee allowed by law tendered at delivery.
Copy LinkUpload the summons and complaint with every address you have. A written quote comes before any work begins.
