Personal Service
The papers are handed to the person named, at home, at work or wherever they can be found. It is the most direct method.
Upload your papers once. Get a free written quote, approve it, and get a signed return of service, served or not.
No account. No payment until you approve the quote.
All 50 states, D.C. and PR · NAPPS since 2023
Upload them with the form.
Nothing starts until you approve it.
E-signed, or notarized where the state requires it.
Your choice, from Same-Day to Routine (5-7 business days). Each window runs to the first attempt.
Priced per person, per address. Your free written quote lists every line before anything starts. Starting rates are on the pricing page.
It is made under the rules of the state where the person is served and signed by the server, e-signed or notarized where the state requires it.
A skip trace is $55. If service is not made, you get a signed affidavit of non-service.
Service of process is the formal delivery of court papers to the person or company named in them. It tells them a case or a demand exists and gives them the chance to respond, and a court can only move the case forward once service has been made the way its rules allow.
Those rules belong to the state where the person or company is, not only to the state where the case is filed. Who may serve, which methods count and how the proof has to be signed change from state to state. We serve every order under the rules of the state where the person or company is, and each state page sets those rules out.
The same five steps on every order, from the papers you send to the signed return you file with the court.
Upload the documents and name each person or company to be served, with the address.
Every line is priced before work begins. Nothing starts until you approve and pay it.
Under the rules of the state where the person or company is, at each address on the order.
On different days and at different times. Sometimes fewer are needed.
E-signed, or notarized where the state requires it. You file it with the court.
Which method fits depends on who is being served and what the state allows. Tell us who the person or company is, and the order is served the way that state’s rules provide.
The papers are handed to the person named, at home, at work or wherever they can be found. It is the most direct method.
Where the state’s rule allows it, the papers are left with someone else at the person’s home, with a follow-up mailing where the rule requires one.
A company is served through its registered agent. Give us the exact legal name and the state where it is registered; if you do not have the agent, we look it up.
Agencies, municipalities, hospitals and schools are served at the address the law sets for service on them.
Service at a prison or on a military base is available on request: tell us where the person is held or stationed, and access is arranged before the attempt.
You pick the speed on the order form. A faster option moves the first attempt sooner, and every speed includes up to three attempts and the signed return.
First attempt in 5-7 business days
The standard speed, when time allows.
First attempt in 2-3 business days
Front of the queue.
First attempt within 2 business days
For deadlines already close.
First attempt the same business day
Subject to local field coverage.
Each window counts business days from the day your payment is received and runs to the first attempt, not to completion. Starting rates for every speed are on the pricing page.
Choose your speed on the order form. Get a free quote
Attempts are spread across days and times, so each one has a different chance of finding the person in.
Within the window of the speed you chose, counted from payment.
If service is not made, the next attempt is on another day, at another time.
Sometimes fewer are needed. Each attempt is recorded with its date and time.
Each address is its own service. A second address for the same person is a second service, with its own attempts.
More attempts are an additional round. If service is still not made, another round is quoted before it starts, at the original order’s service lines.
Every order ends with a signed document, whichever way the attempts go.
When the papers are served
Signed by the server, e-signed or notarized where the state requires it, and sent to you to file with the court.
When service is not made
Lists each attempt with its date and time, so you can decide the next step with the record in hand.
After the order is complete
Completed order files, including the signed return, are kept for seven years.
Send the papers, get the signed return. Get a free quote
A person who has moved or is avoiding service does not end the job. Each option below starts only if you ask for it.
If the person has moved, a skip trace searches for a current address. A new address is quoted as a new round of service.
Skip trace: $55 per search
If up to three attempts do not complete service, another round at different days and times is quoted before it starts.
Additional round: quoted first
If you or your counsel ask the court to allow another method of service, the affidavit of non-service is the record of the attempts made.
The affidavit: included
Other charges a job can need, such as a stakeout, printing a large set of papers or a court fee, are listed on the supplementary costs page.
All 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Each state page sets out who may serve, how proof is made and what that state requires. Open the state where the person or company will be served.
What attorneys, paralegals and people handling their own case ask before they order.
Service of process is the formal delivery of court papers, such as a summons and complaint or a subpoena, to the person or company named in them, in a way the court’s rules allow. The proof of how and when it happened, the return of service, is then filed with the court so the case can move forward.
Yes. We serve papers in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, under the rules of the state where the person or company is. Each state page sets out that state’s rules.
Yes. Every order gets a free written quote with each line priced, and work begins only after you approve and pay it.
Up to three attempts at each address, made on different days and at different times. Sometimes fewer are needed. If the attempts do not complete service, another round can be quoted.
Both. Each person or company is its own service, and each address is its own round of up to three attempts. Starting rates are on the pricing page.
You choose the speed on the order form: Routine, first attempt in 5 to 7 business days; Preferred, 2 to 3 business days; Next-Day, within 2 business days; Same-Day, the same business day, subject to local field coverage. Every window runs to the first attempt, not to completion, and starts when payment is received.
Next-Day puts the first attempt within 2 business days, and Same-Day puts it on the same business day, subject to local field coverage. Both windows count from the day your payment is received.
Where a state’s rule allows it, the papers are left with someone else at the person’s home instead of being handed to the person, with a follow-up mailing where the rule requires one. Whether it is allowed, and with whom, depends on the state.
Yes. Give us the company’s exact legal name and the state where it is registered. If you do not have the registered agent, say so on the order and we look it up.
We serve the papers under the rules of the state where the person or company is. Where a state requires a process server to be certified, registered, licensed or appointed, the papers are served by someone who holds that status, and each state page names the rule.
A signed return of service, e-signed or notarized where the state requires it, sent to you to file with the court.
The return is made under the rules of the state where the person or company is served and signed by the server, e-signed or notarized where the state requires a notarized affidavit. Each state page names that state’s rule for proof of service.
You receive a signed affidavit of non-service that lists each attempt with its date and time. If the address turns out to be bad, a skip trace can search for a current one for $55. If the person is avoiding service, another round at different days and times can be quoted. If you ask the court to allow another method of service, the affidavit is the record of the attempts made.
Yes. Add each person or company to the same order, up to 25, each with its own address. For a longer list, email it to info@served123.com.
A subpoena issued in one state often has to be issued again in the witness’s state before it can be served there. Our subpoena domestication service handles that step and then serves the witness. Where a state requires a witness fee, the witness fee guide lists it.
For service of process, fees a court or agency charges are listed on their own lines in your quote, so you see them before you approve it. Subpoena domestication prices include the court’s filing fee. Other charges a job can need are on the supplementary costs page.
Your quote names every line before work begins. Law firms can pay by ACH, check or IOLTA trust account. Anything not in the quote is quoted in writing and runs only after you approve it.
Yes, on request. Tell us where the person is held or stationed, and access is arranged before the attempt.
Ask before you order. International service follows the rules of the country where the person is, and we arrange certified translation when the papers need it.
Call (800) 321-2377 or email info@served123.com. To order, the form at the top of this page takes your documents any hour.
Still deciding? Call (800) 321-2377 or get a free quote.
More answers are on our FAQ page.
Upload the documents and tell us who is being served and where. Your free written quote names every line before anything starts.
Questions first? Call or email us.
Service windows are business days to the first attempt, not to completion, and start when payment is received. Served 123 LLC is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.