A Myth Is As Good As A Mile

In our most recent posting (which I believe was yesterday), we talked about a man who initially didn't want to take the paperwork from us that we were serving on him.

Part of his (perhaps unconscious) reasoning may have been that "if it doesn't touch me, I'm not served."

On another occasion when I walked up to a man in a mobile home, as I was taking the paperwork out of its hiding place, he slammed the front door. Without thinking, I threw the papers towards that door and when the door closed, the papers were trapped between the door and its frame. Was he served?

You betcha'!!

A more recent example was serving a guy who'd driven into his driveway. His wife warned me that he'd try to evade service. I walked up to him and motioned for him to roll down the window (a gesture that's very cumbersome to describe with words alone). He did that and a similar thing happened. As I tried to hand him the papers, he rolled up his window, and I put them into the window opening, and walked away.

Here's the deal. The papers don't have to touch the person being served. If the guy in the mobile home had opened the door and let the papers fall to the ground and if they'd blown away and he never saw them, he'd be just as served as if he took the documents and read them with a magnifying glass.

All that's required is for the person to be made aware that he's being served with legal papers. He doesn't need to know the name of the case (though in my experience he usually knows who the other party is), and he doesn't need to know what the documents say. He (or she - we have no sexist intentions) obviously would be better off if (s)he took the documents and read them, but it's the party's choice, not mine.

If anyone's ever trying to serve you, you're much better off taking the papers. At least in Arizona, you'll be served, eventually, even if you never see the process server (that's me), and in our next posting we'll talk about two methods of alternate service that - if you're the party to be served - could really work to your disadvantage.

This blog is presented by Jeff Bushman of Lighthouse Attorney Service. We do process serving. Nothing contained should be considered as legal advice. Questions about process serving, and specifically, if you're representing yourself in a divorce or an eviction, can be directed to Jeff at: 480-628-9786 or lighthouseattorneyservice@gmail.com.