Recipients of Legal Papers: Never Give Money to Someone Claiming to Be a Process Server

If you are being served for a civil or criminal matter, it is important that you know your rights and how service of process is supposed to work. One of the important things to know is that you should never give money to a process server. 

Process server asking for payment

If a process server thinks you don’t know the rules, they might try to convince you that you have to pay them for service instead of the person having you served. You should never owe a process server money on delivery. Those services are paid for in advance by the person requesting service of process. Process servers are not a cash on delivery business.

Process server asking for a bribe

“If you give me $20, I’ll say I can’t find you.” Extortions or bribes like this can happen with unethical process servers, even if they are certified by the courts. If you do bribe the process server and get caught, you could face serious criminal charges.

Giving the process server a tip

Even if the process server does everything right, if you give them a tip, it could be considered a bribe, extortion, or something else. Even though you mean no harm, any exchange of money between a process serve and their target is questionable at the least, and criminal at the worst. 

What to do if it happens to you

If you are asked for money by a process server, you should get their name and licensing information, refuse service, and immediately call the courts to report the issue. Sometimes the legal papers are real and will be served by someone else. But often the legal papers are falsified, and the courts will be able to tell you if you have a case or not.

If you are needing more information about process service, we are happy to help.
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