We have seen many mistakes made by process servers over the years. While serving legal documents may seem like a straightforward task, there are many complexities involved, and even the most experienced process servers can make mistakes. In this post, we will discuss the most common mistakes made by process servers.

Lack of Preparation

A common mistake made by process servers is the lack of preparation. Process servers should be prepared for every case and have a plan for serving the documents. They should be familiar with the legal requirements for serving legal documents and have the necessary equipment, such as cameras or notepads. A prepared process server will also map out their route ahead of time and familiarize themselves with the area before attempting service. Continue reading →

We’re going to get into the specifics of why, but let’s not even beat around the bush…

No, you cannot serve the court documents (i.e. process) for a legal matter in which you are a named party in the state of Florida.

Who is Allowed to Serve Process in Florida?

You must use the local sheriff’s office or a private process server to serve legal documents such as summonses and complaints in Florida. Here in Lee County, private process servers must be certified by Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit, which governs Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry counties. Continue reading →

Using a certified or otherwise appointed process server is required in Florida, so it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of scammers out there waiting to take advantage of any individual who files a civil lawsuit. Unfortunately, people are deceived every year by people pretending to be certified process servers. In this post, we’ll go over some of the top signs you’re dealing with a process server scammer and how to avoid them in the future.

They’re Not Certified

Process servers in Ft. Myers must be certified by Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit in order to legally serve process in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry counties. A list of currently certified servers can be found on the 20th circuit’s website. If the server you’re talking to isn’t on this list, then they’re not approved to serve process here and should be avoided. Continue reading →

Skip tracing is simply locating a person or entity who is not easily found. Skip tracing is an important tool in any process server’s toolbox.

Who Can I Find With a Skip Trace?

Skip traces may help locate defendants, witnesses, suspects, debtors, runaways, and more.

Why Do I Need a Skip Trace?

The most common reason we receive orders for skip traces are to locate case defendants or witnesses who the server has been unsuccessful in locating. There can be many reasons that a process server cannot find someone, and they’re not always intentional. People move, jobs change, and records are lost. Skip tracing can help in almost any situation to find people who seem to have dropped off the map. Continue reading →

If you need to serve process on a defendant or witness who has been hard to locate, you might think you’ve finally caught a break if you find out they are in the hospital. While no one wants someone to be injured or sick, a process recipient being admitted to a hospital can make a process server’s job much easier. But is it even legal to serve process to a patient in a hospital? The answer is…it depends.

Service of Process in a Hospital is Not Prohibited by Florida State Law

First things first…Florida state law does not prohibit serving process to a patient or employee at a hospital. For service on an employee, just follow the same protocol as for any other business, which involves contacting their supervisor and passing the process off to them for delivery to the employee. Service on a patient, however, isn’t so cut and dry. Before you attempt to serve process on a patient in a hospital, consider the following: Continue reading →

Are you having a hard time finding a process recipient? It’s not uncommon for recipients to try to avoid the process server, thinking that this will make their legal troubles go away. Unfortunately for them, that is never the case. Avoiding the process server does cause delays, but in the end, the case will go on.

So how do you find someone that doesn’t want to be found? Trust the expert process servers at Accurate Serve® of Ft. Myers! We put in the work required to locate all intended process recipients within the set deadline with our service of process, skip trace, and diligent search services. Some of our tactics to locate missing process recipients include: Continue reading →

Most people know that process servers deliver legal papers but aren’t really sure what those legal papers are. The truth is, a process server can serve anything from a witness subpoena to an eviction notice, and everything in between. Some people even use process servers to deliver paperwork that isn’t necessarily required by a court, but is still important and requires a clear chain of custody.

Some of the most common types of documents that a process server delivers include: Continue reading →

In legal cases, all parties who must appear in court or provide testimony must receive adequate, appropriate notification of this requirement. Process servers offer notification to case parties by serving them process, or court documents. Process servers may deliver a variety of court papers, including summonses, complaints, subpoenas, and writs.

Summons

A summons is a legal notice that informs a person who has been sued of the date, time, and location where he or she will be required to appear in court to present his or her defense. Avoiding or ignoring a summons may lead to legal consequences. Continue reading →

Process servers play an important role in the legal system by serving court documents to defendants. Lying to a process server can have serious consequences, but perhaps not in the way you’d think.

Why Do People Lie to Process Servers?

People lie to process servers for a variety of reasons. Most hope that by avoiding the process server the case itself will go away. Others just want to inconvenience the person taking them to court. Others may have other pending legal issues and do not want to be found. No matter what the reason, lying to a process server is always a bad idea. Continue reading →

If you’ve filed a civil court case in Florida, you must have the defendant(s) named in the case properly “served” with the case summons and complaint. This service, or delivery of the case documents to the defendant(s), must be done by either a certified private process server or law enforcement official.

Private Process Server vs. Law Enforcement

While you can use local law enforcement to serve the process in your civil case, including the summons, complaint, subpoenas, and any other documentation, this isn’t always the best idea. Let’s face it…law enforcement is already overworked and underpaid, so why add on one more task that can easily be done by a private process server instead? Police officers should be able to spend their time focusing on catching the bad guys, not serving the civil case process. Continue reading →