what do you do if you can't find someone to serve notice to appear in court?
Already Tried: looking where he has mail going to ,checking out campgrounds ,getting a privet detective and nothing ,what else can I do?
Hello:
It is possible to apply to the court for an order for "substituted service", where the court will allow service to be done by some means other than by personal service. To get such an order, you would need to file materials with the court showing the judge that you have made all reasonable efforts to locate and serve the other party, such as detailing what you have done so far, or filing an Affidavit of the private detective detailing what he did to try to locate this person.
You would also have to give the judge some evidence that the substituted method of service is likely to allow the court papers to come to the attention of the other party. So for example, if this person has family but they refuse to tell you where he can be found, the judge can order that you serve these people instead. I have had orders where there was an indication that a government department or a business knew where the other person was living, and the court ordered that service be made to that department or business with a request that they forward on the material. (because the government or business cannot be ordered to give up that private information to the court). I have also had an order allowing for service of documents by way of email and by way of posting them to a Facebook account, as there was evidence that the person to be served had such an account but refused to tell us where he lived.
If all efforts to locate a person have been exhausted and there is no way to know if he or she can get notice, courts have rarely allowed service by doing things such as a public notice in a newspaper about a hearing. But that is not common, and it may be that if you cannot provide a court with any information as to whether a person served will ever know about the service, the court may say that you then have no way to proceed with court action against that person.
There are some types of court actions where the court can also rule that there will be no need to proceed with service, and they will dispense with the need for service if it is shown that service will be impossible but there is still a need for the court proceeding to take place.
HelloIs there some specific further question or follow up that you have? Please let me know and I will try to answer.