In California, family law cases, such as divorce and child custody procedures, require the summons and petition to be served within 60 days of filing. This rule promotes prompt communication among the parties concerned. It also fosters a trustworthy environment for resolving family law cases.

In order to serve child support papers to the other parent in California, you can choose one of the following persons as your server: an adult that you know, a county sheriff or hire a professional process server. In case the other parent is in prison, then they will be served by the prison official. You should contact the California state prison or the federal prison to know more about this.

If the other parent denies being served the child support papers, then your server can leave the documents next to them and explain what they are. For example, your server may place the papers on the ground next to them and say, “These are important legal documents for you.

If the other parent is never home whenever the server tries to serve the child support papers to them, then as the first step, your server can make multiple attempts (i.e., at least three attempts) of service at different times on different days and as second step, your server can try substituted service.