When people hear there is going to be a legal case against them, they are not typically particularly happy, even if they knew it was coming. And, some people mistakenly think that if they can simply avoid being served legal papers, they can delay or avoid a legal case altogether. But, this is not the case. We often hear the question, “If I know where someone will be at a certain day and time, can you serve them there?” The answer is, yes, process servers can stake out or schedule service for a particular time/day/location. But, if someone is avoiding being served, they may be going to extra lengths to hide their location.
A process server that is experienced and reliable will attempt a stakeout or scheduled process service where they will wait for a subject to enter or leave a property. Once this has been observed, the process server will attempt to make contact to serve papers. When someone is involved in something such as a custody exchange of children or a pre-arranged meeting that you know they will attend, it may be a good opportunity to have the papers legally served.
Sometimes, when an individual is working particularly hard to avoid being served, the courts will allow for alternative service methods such as posting on the front entrance of the usual place of abode. But, you must have already attempted to serve the individual in-person before you will be allowed to get an alternative method of service. Work with an experienced process server who is experienced in finding and legally carrying out their task to ensure your documents are served in a timely manner
