Pennsylvania Rule 400(a) gives in-state original process to the sheriff alone, unless an exception applies, and Rule 401(a) allows 30 days from the writ or the complaint. Served 123 LLC covers all 67 counties: for that process we arrange the county sheriff, who controls its own attempts and return. Our process server, a competent adult under Rule 76, serves within Philadelphia in a case from any county (Rule 400.1(a)(1), (b)), in the four Rule 400(b) actions, in domestic relations matters, outside Pennsylvania and on subpoenas. Each address our server takes includes up to three attempts and a Rule 405 affidavit of service (Rule 1930.4(h) in domestic relations; on a subpoena, a Rule 234.6 verified return).
Upload the writ of summons or the complaint with the defendant’s address, the county where the case was commenced and the relief sought. For a records subpoena, include the Rule 4009.22 certificate.
A written quote for that county, with cost and turnaround, arrives before any work begins.
When our server serves, you receive the server’s affidavit of service with the date, time, place, manner and person served (Rule 405(b); Rule 1930.4(h) in domestic relations), or on a subpoena the Rule 234.6 verified return. The sheriff makes the sheriff’s own return.
Request a free written quote. Each address starts in Pennsylvania. Serving someone in another state? Change the first address’s State and we take you to that state’s page with your entries kept.
Pennsylvania return: the date, time, place and manner of service and the person served (Rule 405(b)); anyone but the sheriff returns by affidavit (Rule 405(d)).
Rule 401(a) requires original process to be served within the Commonwealth within 30 days after the prothonotary issues the writ of summons or the complaint is filed. Pa.R.J.A. 107 leaves out the first day, counts the last, and drops a last day that is a Saturday, a Sunday or a Pennsylvania or federal legal holiday.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania writes the civil rules. Rules 400 to 430 govern original process, Rule 1930.4 domestic relations, Rules 234.1 to 234.9 subpoenas, and Pa.R.J.A. 107 the counting of days; 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5331 to 5337 enact the UIDDA.
Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) and in Rules 400.1 and 1930.4, original process shall be served within the Commonwealth only by the sheriff.
Rules verified October 2026 against Pa.R.Civ.P. 76, 234.1, 234.2, 234.5, 234.6, 234.9, 248, 400 to 405, 410, 420 to 424, 430, 449, 1007, 1018.1, 1026, 1028, 1930.4, 4009.21 and 4009.22, Pa.R.Civ.P.M.D.J. 301 and 307 and Pa.R.J.A. 107 as published in the Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin by the Legislative Reference Bureau, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5107, 5323, 5331 to 5337 and 5903, 15 Pa.C.S. § 411 and the Act of May 31, 1893 as published by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and 5 U.S.C. § 6103. General information, not legal advice. The rule controls.
Rule 400 decides who carries original process and Rules 420 to 424 whom to serve, and Served 123 arranges each Pennsylvania route open to a competent adult on one order: Philadelphia cases and papers served there, Rule 400(b) actions, domestic relations matters, entities, special orders for real property, defendants out of state, Rule 430 special orders and subpoenas. Sheriff and coroner service and a filed acceptance stay outside it.
Every route above, one order.
Get a Free Quote Online →Rule 405 asks whoever made service for a return made forthwith. The sheriff makes the sheriff’s own return; a return by anyone else is by affidavit, which Rule 76 allows to be sworn before an officer or unsworn with a statement that it is made subject to 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904. The return, or a return of no service, is filed with the prothonotary.
When the period runs out with no service and no reissued writ or reinstated complaint, a return of no service follows, and an affidavit by anyone but the sheriff sets out the efforts made with particularity.
For attorneys, collection teams, insurers and self-represented parties with someone to serve anywhere from Erie to Philadelphia.
Upload the writ of summons or the complaint with the defendant’s address, the county where the case was commenced and the relief sought. For a records subpoena, include the Rule 4009.22 certificate.
A written quote for that county, with cost and turnaround, arrives before any work begins.
For in-state original process outside the exceptions, we arrange the county sheriff, who sets the sheriff’s own attempts and timing. Within Philadelphia (a case from any county), in a Rule 400(b) action or a domestic relations matter, outside Pennsylvania and on a subpoena, our process server makes up to three attempts per address.
When our server serves, you receive the server’s affidavit of service with the date, time, place, manner and person served (Rule 405(b); Rule 1930.4(h) in domestic relations), or on a subpoena the Rule 234.6 verified return. The sheriff makes the sheriff’s own return.
Rule 400(a) sends in-state original process to the sheriff unless an exception applies, so for those papers we arrange the county sheriff; the sheriff’s timing and attempts are the sheriff’s. The tiers time our server’s first attempt where our server may serve: a case commenced in Philadelphia, with the party within Philadelphia (Rule 400.1(a)(1)), a case from another county served in Philadelphia (Rule 400.1(b)), the Rule 400(b) actions, domestic relations matters (Rule 1930.4), service outside Pennsylvania (Rule 404(1)) and subpoenas (Rule 234.2(b)). The 30 days of Rule 401(a) run from issuance of the writ or filing of the complaint; once they pass, have the writ reissued or the complaint reinstated first. Preferred, Next-Day and Same-Day set when the first attempt is made; a first attempt is not service.
Rule 403 mail is open only where another rule authorizes mail, such as Rule 404(2) for a defendant outside Pennsylvania; mail returned unclaimed means service by another means.
What You Get Back
From Allegheny and Philadelphia to Cameron and Forest, find your county on the map or in the list to start a quote.
Each answer names the Pennsylvania rule or statute behind it. General information, not legal advice.
Thirty days after the writ issues or the complaint is filed for service inside the Commonwealth, and ninety days for service outside it under Rule 404. When the time passes, the prothonotary reissues the writ or reinstates the complaint on praecipe, any number of times, and the new period runs from that date. Rule 248 lets the parties agree in writing, or the court order, a longer or shorter time. The Rule 405 Note cites Lamp v. Heyman on tolling: original process remains effective to commence an action only if the plaintiff does not stall the legal machinery set in motion. Under Rule 1028(a)(1), improper service of a writ or complaint is raised by preliminary objection. If a limitation period is close, ask counsel.
Copy LinkBy the sheriff, for original process served inside the Commonwealth, unless an exception applies. A competent adult (18 or older, not a party, and not a party’s employee or relative) may also serve in the four Rule 400(b) actions, within Philadelphia in a case commenced there (Rule 400.1(a)(1)) or in another county (Rule 400.1(b)), in domestic relations matters under Rule 1930.4, and anywhere outside Pennsylvania under Rule 404(1). If the sheriff is a party, the coroner serves. Subpoenas are different: any adult may serve one. A civil action before a magisterial district judge (other than a landlord-tenant possession action, which Chapter 500 governs) follows that court’s own rules. Under Pa.R.Civ.P.M.D.J. 307, service is made at least ten days before the hearing, and the complaint goes for service to the sheriff or a certified constable (for Philadelphia, also a Municipal Court writ server), or by certified mail from the magisterial district judge where those rules permit mail.
Copy LinkAn adult member of the family the defendant lives with. If no adult family member is found, an adult person in charge of the residence. Where the defendant lives in a hotel, inn, apartment house, boarding house or other lodging, the clerk or manager there. The defendant or an authorized agent may also accept service by filing a separate document.
Copy LinkRule 403 applies only where a rule authorizes mail, such as Rule 404(2) outside the Commonwealth; Rule 1930.4 sets its own first class and certified mail route in most domestic relations matters. Rule 403 calls for mail requiring a receipt signed by the defendant or an authorized agent, and service is complete on delivery. If the defendant refuses it, ordinary mail to the same address with a return address follows, complete if not returned within fifteen days. Mail returned as unclaimed means service by another means. Proof of mail service includes the signed return receipt or, after a refusal, the returned letter marked refused and an affidavit that the ordinary mail was not returned within fifteen days (Rule 405(c)).
Copy LinkFor a corporation or similar entity: an executive officer, partner or trustee, the manager, clerk or person in charge of a regular place of business or activity, or an agent authorized in writing. For a partnership or association: any partner, officer or registered agent, an agent authorized in writing, or the person in charge of a regular place of business. In either case the person served cannot be a plaintiff, and a corporation or similar entity cannot be served by leaving papers at an officer’s home.
Copy LinkIf service cannot be made under the applicable rule, the plaintiff may move for a special order directing the method of service. The motion carries an affidavit describing the investigation into the defendant’s whereabouts and why service cannot be made. The Rule 430 Note lists good faith steps such as inquiries of relatives, neighbors, friends and employers, and searches of directories, courthouse, voter, tax and motor vehicle records, and the internet. If the court orders publication, it runs once in the court’s designated legal publication, if any, and in one newspaper of general circulation in the county.
Copy LinkAny adult may serve a copy on any adult within the Commonwealth: in a Rule 402(a) manner, by restricted-delivery return-receipt mail, or by ordinary mail with the Rule 234.9 acknowledgment forms. The fee for one day’s attendance and round trip mileage, the statutory witness fee and mileage under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5903, is tendered on demand at service, and a check for it goes in with a mailed subpoena. A subpoena sent by ordinary mail is not enforceable, and no bench warrant or contempt follows, unless the witness returns the signed acknowledgment. A minor witness is served together with the minor’s guardian, unless the court approves otherwise beforehand on good cause shown.
Copy LinkA prothonotary where the person resides, is employed or regularly transacts business in person, under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5331–5337, which applies to discovery sought here in a civil action or proceeding in a foreign jurisdiction, meaning a state other than Pennsylvania. A party submits the foreign subpoena there without making an appearance. The prothonotary promptly issues a Pennsylvania subpoena that incorporates its terms and contains or comes with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party not represented by counsel. The Pennsylvania rules govern its service and compliance, and any protective order or motion to quash goes to the court that ordered service.
Copy LinkA return by anyone other than the sheriff is by affidavit, and Rule 76 lets an affidavit be unsworn if it states it is made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904. It sets out the date, time, place and manner of service and the person served, is made forthwith, and is filed with the prothonotary. For a Pennsylvania subpoena, the Rule 234.6 return carries a verification under the same section.
Copy LinkRule 404 allows a competent adult in the Rule 402(a) manner, Rule 403 mail, the local law of the place for its general jurisdiction courts, a treaty, or a foreign authority’s direction on a letter rogatory. 42 Pa.C.S. § 5323, which Rule 449 keeps in force, lets anyone permitted to serve under Pennsylvania law or the local law serve, allows service as a court directs, and accepts the server’s affidavit as proof. A defendant served outside the United States has sixty days to plead.
Copy LinkUpload the writ or complaint and the address. A written quote comes before any work begins.
