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.\u00a0 The rules explaining how \u00a0to properly serve\u00a0dissolution documents are found in Section IV (Rules 40-43) of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure.<\/p>\n
There are several\u00a0ways 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.\u00a0 Personal service may be completed by a sheriff’s deputy\u00a0or by a \u00a0private process server.\u00a0\u00a0 After personal service is completed, the sheriff’s deputy or private process server files an affidavit of service with the court.\u00a0 The affidavit of service should confirm the date, time and location of service.\u00a0 While hiring a private process server may be more\u00a0expensive than\u00a0using\u00a0the sheriff’s office,\u00a0 a private process server will generally\u00a0serve initial \u201cnon-emergency\u201d dissolution documents much more quickly than will\u00a0the sheriff\u2019s office.\u00a0 If a dissolution action needs to be served as soon as possible,\u00a0a private\u00a0process server is worth the extra cost.<\/p>\n
Initial documents may also be served by certified mail with signed return receipt or other means which offers delivery and signature confirmation.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 For instance, if documents are sent by certified mail or national courier service and the opposing party does not want to receive the documents,\u00a0she can simply refuse to sign for the documents.\u00a0 In addition, a\u00a0certified mail return receipt signed by someone other than the respondent is not valid.\u00a0 Finally, when the certified mail service is\u00a0completed, the attorney\u00a0must file an affidavit of service with the court, and the cost to the client to have her attorney prepare and file\u00a0the affidavit could approach or exceed the cost of personal service.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0cases where the opposing party is aware of the court\u00a0action\u00a0and is willing to accept service of the documents, he\u00a0 may receive the initial\u00a0papers and acknowledge\u00a0his receipt\u00a0by signing a document called a waiver of service.\u00a0 This waiver lists each document the opposing party is receiving, is\u00a0signed by him in front of a notary public and is then\u00a0returned to the petitioner for filing.\u00a0 The\u00a0waiver of service establishes the date\u00a0the opposing party accepts service\u00a0in lieu of service by other means (e.g., by mail or by personal service).\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2012 by Scoresby Family Law \u2013 J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once a petition for dissolution of marriage has been filed, the next step is to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[25,42,71,87],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divorce-process","tag-arizona-divorce","tag-dissolution-of-marriage","tag-petition-for-dissolution","tag-service-of-documents"],"yoast_head":"\n