Q: Did my son serve the divorce summons properly?
My 23 yr old son served the divorce summons at my husband's work. He avoided my son knowing he was there serving the papers, so my son left the papers on his laptop on his personal toolbox with a witness as well. Will this be ok as a summons? And if so, it's been 30 days and i haven't been served the response because he believes he wasn't served properly
A: The service was not proper, unless your husband was physically present when the papers were left. A person cannot avoid service by refusing to take the papers from the Process Server's hand, the PS can just drop the papers at the feet of the person. However, if your husband was not at his toolbox/laptop when the papers were put there, service is not proper. You and your son should read what it says on the proof of service about "substituted service" and you can complete service that way. You must serve a live person at work and mail the papers to H's last known address. If you have no legal training, it is better to ask an attorney before you start to practice law on yourself than after. In this case, Permission is better than forgiveness.
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