Why Some Defendants Don't Want To Be Served
When you begin the process of taking legal action against an individual, you may need to serve them in Canada. In some cases, an individual can simply be difficult to find. However, in other cases, they might specifically be trying to avoid being served. There are several warning signs that the defendant is deliberately trying to avoid being served.
Reasons to Avoid Being Served
The main reason why an individual tries to avoid being served is that they think they may be able to stop your litigation efforts by doing so. However, they will only be able to delay the inevitable and it's better as a defendant to be informed and to focus on building a case.
Communicating with the Defendant
Knowing why the party doesn't want to be served can help you determine how to best approach it. For example, if you are going through a divorce, your partner might not want to admit that the marriage is ending. If the other party owes money and has assets, they might not want to forfeit them.
There are also some individuals who wrongly think that accepting papers is an admission of guilt. However, this is not true and the party receiving the papers will still be able to defend themselves in court. If you are able to contact someone who is able to speak to the defendant, make sure to have this message delivered to them.
How to Legally Serve Someone
If you would like to serve the other party, you must follow the law and you will need to not be a party to the lawsuit. For example, you are not allowed to commit a crime to serve an individual. You cannot enter onto private property, for example.
Fortunately, if you hire a process server in Canada, they will have the tools and skills that are necessary to effectively track down the other party so they can be served. They will also serve the other party in a manner that is fully legal.
Process Servers are Often Creative
Oftentimes, the process server will need to be creative when serving the individual their papers. For example, some process servers have tried to dress in a manner that would lead the defendant to assume that they're not a process server only to them surprise the other party by delivering the papers.
Even if it is not possible to serve the individual, there are other options that are available. However, having a process server deliver the legal documents in person is the best approach.
Share