Giving Legal Notice Service of Citation and Service of Documents
It is required under the Texas Family Code that a spouse be notified when a divorce case has been opened. This means they must be informed that you the Petitioner have asked the Court to do something that might affect the Respondent's (other spouse) legal rights.
It is not enough for you the Petitioner to tell the Respondent (your spouse) about the lawsuit.
You must follow the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure in giving legal notice.
Methods of Service
There are 4 methods approved under the Texas Rules of civil procedure for giving legal notice or delivering divorce papers those include personal service, service by certified mail, substituted service, and publication.
Personal service is the best choice for service and the one we are going to focus on in this article. This means the process server will hand deliver the divorce petition to your spouse. By using this method the Court knows that your spouse has actually received notice of the divorce when personal service is accomplished.
When the divorce paperwork is filed if service needed you will fill out a service request. You can select to have papers delivered by a constable or sheriff or private process server. If you are wanting the county to handle it you will pay for the constable to deliver the papers. If you want to use a private process server you will fill out the contact information for the private process server you are wanting to use and the district clerk will call the private process server to come pick up the divorce papers when they are ready for delivery.
Constable / Sheriff
A constable usually costs a little less and if your spouse lives in the county this may be a good rout to take. However, if they do not live in the county you may have to pay an additional fee and have the paperwork shipped out of county to a constable who is local to your spouse.
Private Process Server
Alternatively you can hire a private process server who works in more than one area. This is often a quicker rout to take than paying for a constable to deliver the divorce paperwork.
The private process servers we use at the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC are also members of network of private process servers. This means if they do not service an area such as when we need someone served out of state they can get in contact with a process server in that area to get the spouse served.
Waiver of service
Another method under the Texas Family Code is if they are willing to sign a Waiver of Service. A waiver of service is a document the Respondent spouse signs waiving the requirement for service. By signing the waiver of services, the spouse agrees that it is not necessary to have them served by a process server for the divorce case.
Ebook
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Other Articles you may be interested in:
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- 7 Important Ways to Financially Prepare for Your Texas Divorce
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Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Spring Divorce Lawyer
The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding divorce, it's important to speak with ar Spring, TX Divorce Lawyer right away to protect your rights.
A divorce lawyer in Spring TX is skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC handles Divorce cases in Spring, Texas, Cypress, Spring, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County and Waller County.