What is Service and What Is The Purpose?
Service of process is notifying the opposing party of an ongoing domestic or civil suit. The purpose of service of process is to make sure the opposing party is aware of litigation against them. If you are unable to actually affect service, you will have issues with actually getting your case heard before court. This is the first major hurdle at the outset of your case. Once you have gone past this hurdle and you actually showed that you have served the opposing party, the court can grant you the relief you’re requesting or similar relief even if they fail to show up for court.
What Are The Different Types of Service?
There are three different types of service. You can have service through sheriff service which is where you pay for filing and you request that the sheriff serve the opposing party. Service of process, using a Maryland process server, is an agency or individual hired to serve the opposing party. It’s typically someone over the age of 18, that’s not affiliated with your matter, that you hire to handle the service aspect of your case. They will make a certain number of attempts at different times of day to try to make sure the opposing party is served. They will typically also file an affidavit of service with the court on your behalf to show that service was actually completed.
In-State vs. Out-of-State Service Considerations
There are two major differences between in-state service and out-of-state service. In Maryland, in-state service means that once you serve someone, they have 30 days to respond to you. If the opposing party is out of the state of Maryland but in the United States, then that person will have 60 days to respond to you. If they don’t do that, whether it’s the 60 days for out-of-state or 30 days for in-state, then you have options that can grant you resolution in your case, including filing for default or having a hearing without them present, and you can get the relief that you were initially requesting even if they don’t show up.
Contact an Experienced Family Attorney in Maryland For Your Prince George’s County, Maryland and Montgomery County, Maryland Domestic Matter Today
If you have any questions about in-state service, or out-of-state service, or other domestic related matters, please feel free to subscribe to my Youtube channel for future updates. Please also feel free to give us a call at (301) 778-9950 to speak with an attorney today.
