Once a petition for dissolution of marriage has been filed, the next step is to serve the other party with a copy of each document the petitioner filed. The rules explaining how to properly serve dissolution documents are found in Section IV (Rules 40-43) of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure.
There are several ways to serve an opposing party, including by personal service, by mail/national courier service or by the opposing party’s execution of a waiver of service. Personal service may be completed by a sheriff’s deputy or by a private process server. After personal service is completed, the sheriff’s deputy or private process server files an affidavit of service with the court. The affidavit of service should confirm the date, time and location of service. While hiring a private process server may be more expensive than using the sheriff’s office, a private process server will generally serve initial “non-emergency” dissolution documents much more quickly than will the sheriff’s office. If a dissolution action needs to be served as soon as possible, a private process server is worth the extra cost.
Initial documents may also be served by certified mail with signed return receipt or other means which offers delivery and signature confirmation. While this may be a viable and affordable option for service in certain circumstances, there are drawbacks to using service by certified mail or other signed-receipt delivery. For instance, if documents are sent by certified mail or national courier service and the opposing party does not want to receive the documents, she can simply refuse to sign for the documents. In addition, a certified mail return receipt signed by someone other than the respondent is not valid. Finally, when the certified mail service is completed, the attorney must file an affidavit of service with the court, and the cost to the client to have her attorney prepare and file the affidavit could approach or exceed the cost of personal service.
In cases where the opposing party is aware of the court action and is willing to accept service of the documents, he may receive the initial papers and acknowledge his receipt by signing a document called a waiver of service. This waiver lists each document the opposing party is receiving, is signed by him in front of a notary public and is then returned to the petitioner for filing. The waiver of service establishes the date the opposing party accepts service in lieu of service by other means (e.g., by mail or by personal service). Once the respondent signs the waiver of service and the petitioner files the waiver with the court, it is as if the respondent had been personally served. His response deadline begins running as of the date he signed the waiver of service the same as if he had been personally served on that date.
In my practice, unless an opposing party is willing to sign a waiver of service, I regularly advise my clients to have the initial dissolution and related documents served by private process server because it is the quickest and easiest way to confirm that the dissolution action has been properly served.
Copyright © 2012 by Scoresby Family Law – J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.