Service of Divorce Petitions – FAQ’s
What to do if your partner does not confirm receipt of the divorce proceedings?
The Court will contact you to say that your partner, the Respondent, has not confirmed receipt of the documents and provide you with various options. One of these options will be to engage a Process Server to serve the papers on your partner and then confirm service to the Court. If you wish to follow this option, you should request copies of the documents from the Court. They will send you soft copies of the documents via email, which you can forward onto a Process Server who will then arrange service of the documents for you.
A Process Server will be able to take the stress of the service away from you and ensure that the Court can see that appropriate steps have been taken to make your partner aware of the documents, via personal service or deemed service.
What documents do I need?
There are four documents that a Process Server will need to effect service, these are:
Examples of these documents can be seen here.
How much will it cost for me to instruct a process server to personally serve divorce proceedings?
You are looking at fees of around £120 excluding VAT. This fee will include at least two separate attempts at personal service of the documents and the signed Statement of Service, which you will send to the Court as evidence that your partner now has the documents and is aware of the proceedings.
What is personal service?
Personal service is when a Process Server hands the legal documents to the intended subject face to face. For the majority of legal documents, this can be completed at any location and does not have to be done at the subject’s home address. If a Process Server has a phone number for the subject, they may be able to arrange to meet the subject at a mutually agreed location to complete personal service.
What if the process server is unable to serve the proceedings personally?
A Process Server will always attempt to serve legal documents personally in the first instance. Even if personal service is not affected on the first attempt, the attempt will give the Process Server more insight into the job, by completing observations on the subject’s address and by speaking to neighbours. After this attempt, the Process Server has the opportunity to speak to the client to clarify any queries they may have and to discuss how they will proceed with the service.
After a number of attempts have been made, the Process Server can suggest sending a Letter of Appointment to the subject’s home address. This will give an appointed time and date for the Process Server to attend the address to meet with the subject to effect service. The letter will also give the subject the appropriate contact details for the Process Server so they can re-arrange the appointment if they need. A copy of the documents to be served will be enclosed with the letter.
If, when the Process Server attends the address at the appointed time and date, the subject is there, Personal Service will be effected. If the subject is not in, the Process Server will post a copy of the documents.
After the attempts at personal service have been completed, the Process Server will prepare a statement setting out the attempts and why the documents have not been personally served. This statement will also ask the Court to progress with the proceedings, even without personal service, as the papers are ‘deemed’ to have been served. The Court will then make further directives as to whether they believe that the papers are deemed to have been served, or if further efforts must be made.
What information should I provide to the process server?
The more information that the Process Server has on the case and the subject we are trying to serve the better. Such information would be:
- Subject’s full name and any nicknames
- Subject’s date of birth or age
- A description or photograph of the subject
- Subject’s home address and any other address they may reside at
- Who lives with the subject at the address, e.g. children/partner/parents
- If the subject works, what they do for work, where they work and what hours they work
- If the subject drives, what do they drive
- A general overview of the subject’s lifestyle – are they an early/late riser, are they a drug user/regular drinker, do they go to the pub every evening etc
All this information will help the Process Server effect personal service efficiently and hopefully help you reduce your stress and cost. Do not worry if you have hardly any of this information, we realise that sometime the subject is not well known to our clients, Process Servers are used to this. It is our job to complete the service so we will work hard to get the job done!
What do I do if I do not know where my partner is currently residing?
What you need in this instance, is a Tracing Agent, which is a service KPEA also offers! If you send us an email with the subject information, we will make enquiries into them and report back to you. Some of the information that will help us is:
- Subject’s Full Name
- Subject’s Date of Birth
- Any previous addresses
- Subject’s current partner
Don’t worry if you only have some of this, we will work diligently to get the current whereabouts of the subject.
To guarantee this, we offer our service on a ‘no trace, no fee’ basis. This means if we do not come up with any new information, there is no charge to you.
Why should I use a Process Server and not a Court Bailiff?
There are many benefits to using a Process Server over a Court Bailiff:
- Communication with a Process Server is easier and more personal
- Costs are very similar but cost structure is more flexible
- A Process Server will contact you whilst attempting service if further information needs to be clarified
- Process Servers deal with cases quicker on average
Can the divorce proceedings be served by email or WhatsApp?
Ideally, court documentation should always be personally served. However, we realise that not all situations are ideal and, if personal service cannot be achieved and the Process Server can evidence this, then the Court may allow the service of the documents by electronic means.
Can the Respondent evade service?
Yes, they can but if the process server can confirm this and provide evidence the Court may accept this and order deemed service. We are very used to dealing with evasive individuals and have lots of experience in tracking down these subjects.
What is deemed service?
Providing the Court has enough evidence from the Process Server that the Respondent has received the documents via alternative means, the Court may direct that service is deemed and that the Respondent has received the documents.
What do I do once I have a statement from the process server?
The statement from the Process Server needs to be uploaded to the Divorce Portal so that the Court can assess and direct accordingly.
Next Step?
If you need legal documents served urgently call us on 0121 744 4689 or email enq@keithparsons.co.uk
…or fill out the form below and we will call you back