affidavit of service

[spinner]

I file a motion, I cannot sign the affidavit of service.
Can my wife and/or girlfriend sign it (and send the mail) ?

[ocean]

I have served the BM personally so I do not see why not? I signed the part that I served her the papers....

[raymi]

You cannot serve or sign the affidavit of service if you are involved in the motion, that is if you want it to be legal. Your wife or girlfiend is pushing the limits because the other party could say that they were never served and it could look bad. If the issue is serious, like an order to show cause I would hire the sheriffs dept about $30. The person who said they did is not giving good advice. THey were lucky that the other party did not raise the issue.  Good luck.

[notnew]

The poster who said you CANNOT sign the affidavit of service is correct.

I am shocked that the person who did, had a court that let that slip by. It is a serious no no.

In my state, you also cannot serve on Sundays.

Go to your court's website and search through the process to see exactly what you are supposed to do.

You can pay the Sheriff's office (but they aren't always reliable - they lost my filing once, but not my check!).

OR, you can have a relative or friend serve it to her. Then the form is filled out by the person who served it and returned to the court.

OR, you can have it served by private process (I believe PI's, bond companies, etc., offer these type of services)

Bottom line is, if you are going to represent yourself,  you MUST follow the rules. I suggest you take some time to review the laws in your state and become famaliar with what is expected of you. Believe me, the last thing you want is to have a motion squashed or never even heard because you didn't follow the rules properly.

You can always call your court and ask if they have a pro-se office. If so, they will let you know what forms need to be filed, etc., but they CANNOT offer legal advice.

In my state, the only exception to this rule is when  you are requesting an emergency hearing within 24 hours and then you can serve the party yourself but that is the ONLY exception.

[spinner]

so really as the previous poster said, my wife is a relative and she can file the affidavit of service ?
then
right ?

[notnew]

A party to the action cannot serve the paperwork. Any person who is not named as a party to the action can serve the paperwork.

If your wife is not named as the plaintiff/petitioner, or defendant/respondent, then yes, she can serve and file the affidavit. My wife served my ex and it was accepted. This occured in the courthouse and was pretty good! LOL

However, your wife serving her may cause conflict in the future, so I would be careful not to use this route too often. If you have a neighbor or family friend who would be willing to do this, then that would be the best option probably if you don't want to use the Sheriff's Office or a private process server.

I stopped using the Sheriff's Office because as I said, they cashed my check, but lost the filing and the time to serve expired resulting in me requesting that it be issued again, and I had to keep on them to get it done.

Please do try to review the procedures on motions so you know what to do. You may have timelines to request discovery, finish discovery, etc. There is a LOT to learn and it is hard to get it all in as quickly as you need to really.

Yes, have your wife complete the affidavit of service and send in per the instructions. Keep a copy for your records too!

[janM]

Aren't there rules about who can do service? Like an officer of the court (sheriff)? I would check with your courthouse. These things may vary from one county to the next.

[notnew]

You can also call the clerks office that issued the paperwork and ask.

Yes, these rules can change from county to county and state to state so it is always best to check first.

[Jade]

>so really as the previous poster said, my wife is a relative
>and she can file the affidavit of service ?
>then
>right ?

The other party could claim that she is lying. And your wife isn't exactly an impartial person with no interest in this at all.  

You need a disinterested and impartial third party with no personal connection to you in anyway to serve the papers.  

[notnew]

Yes, but if the papers have already been served by his wife and he has XXX amount of time to get them served and the affidavit back to the court then she needs to go ahead and sign it and send it.

Yes, BM could claim his wife is lying, but that is a chance they will have to take. As hostile and deceptive as my ex has always been, she has never said she didn't receive a filing or correspondence from me. I am amazed, but that's how it's been.

If it has already been served by his wife, then he needs to go ahead and follow through. IF the ex attends a hearing or files something denying that it was served by the wife, then she is in effect admitting she does have the filing no matter how she became aware of it.

JMHO