What length of time is required to Serve Child Support Papers?

Divorce is a terrible thing to go through, not only because of the emotional and mental impact of the separation, but also the financial and emotional toll it takes. Divorce becomes even more complicated when children are involved. The courts have developed a process for separated parents to remain financially responsible for the wellbeing of their children–child support.

The first part of the child support process is filing an application or complaint at the local courthouse through the clerk’s office. Every jurisdiction had different requirements, but generally the filing includes questions about the parents, the divorce, and the children involved. Typically, the clerk’s office then issues a Writ of Summons–a court-issued document that notifies the other parent that a lawsuit has been filed against them.

Then, a local sheriff, police officer, peace officer, or private process server will deliver or “serve” the Writ of Summons and other legal documents on the opposing parent. These documents inform the opposing parent that you are suing them for child support and initiating a child support action.

It is critical that the other parent receives these legal documents before any other step of the process can continue. As a party to the case, you cannot serve the Writ of Summons or other legal documents yourself. You may feel anxious waiting to hear about whether the other parent has been served. Generally, as long as the other parent is easy to locate, it shouldn’t take too long to serve child support documents.

What Could Make the Process Take Longer?

There are a few important factors which could cause the process to take more time to complete.

If your local court system is backed up with an influx of cases, the sheriff might be too busy to immediately serve the papers. You can call to check on the status, but it’s likely that your legal documents are in a queue, along with many other cases. Oftentimes, if you contact the sheriff’s department, they can’t actually provide you with a definitive status; one of the downfalls to using the sheriff’s department. Often, the sheriff’s department is inundated with a lot of family law legal documents to be served. Your legal documents may not get served in time, leaving you to start the process all over again. This is where a private process server like Judiciary Process Servers can give you the leading edge.

Another factor that may slow down your child support papers from being served is the availability of your ex. Some individuals try very hard to avoid being served, and it can take time to track them down.

The most effective way to speed up the process of serving the child support documents is to provide as much information as possible. Be sure to include the address and contact information of your ex, an accurate physical description, and any other information that might help to locate them. If possible, provide a recent photo–this helps the process server ensure they have the right person.

A helpful tip is to hire an experienced private process server to serve the documents because they can complete the service of the documents much faster than the court system or local sheriff.

EXPERIENCED & AGGRESSIVE NATIONWIDE PROCESS SERVERS

Always remember that the care and wellbeing of your children depends on these legal documents. You don’t want to allow just anyone to deliver important legal documents regarding your finances and your children. You can trust and depend on the experienced, aggressive, and dependable process servers at Judiciary Process Servers! Our team of professionals work quickly and precisely to get you the results you deserve. We are professional with great attention to detail and will provide you with a rock solid affidavit of service that will stand up in court. You can count on our team, knowing that your important child support papers are in competent hands that know this process inside and out. Call now for a free quote!

Request a Free Quote

Connect with us

What length of time is required to Serve Child Support Papers?

What length of time is required to Serve Child Support Papers?

What Could Make the Process Take Longer?

EXPERIENCED & AGGRESSIVE NATIONWIDE PROCESS SERVERS

Request a Free Quote

Service of Process in Guardianship Cases

I was served with a subpoena, Can I ignore it?

How to have your court documents served in a different state

Pages

Services

Account

Connect