Process serving is the delivery of legal documents to a person. Usually this means serving court documents to a defendant in a legal case.
Naturally enough, people in legal trouble are often unhappy about it. This can make process serving tricky.
The person involved may pretend they aren’t home or give a fake name. Sometimes they go into hiding or even become threatening. This all gets in the way of a professional and successful delivery.
So how can you make sure your court documents safely get to the right person? Here are three techniques Melbourne Investigations uses.
1. Covert surveillance before process serving
When Melbourne Investigations serves documents, we don’t just turn up to someone’s home and knock on the door. This just causes wasted time and opportunities if the person refuses to answer.
Instead, our agents carry out covert surveillance before attempting delivery. Here’s why:
- The identity and location of the person is easier to verify.
- We save time by avoiding deliveries when the person is absent.
- We can keep safe and in control by observing the situation first.
Covert surveillance brings efficiency and safety to the document serving process.
2. Serve court documents on neutral ground
Problems can occur when process serving at a person’s home. People may feel they have the moral high ground at home, so they can become resistant. Emotions are also more likely to be running high at home, potentially leading to a confrontation.
That’s why at Melbourne Investigations we usually deliver court documents on neutral ground.
First we quietly locate and identify the person through surveillance. Then we take the time to covertly follow the person to a more neutral location. This could be work, the shops or other public areas.
This is when we serve the documents. When the person is in a neutral location they are less likely to object, making process serving easier, faster and safer.
3. Stay professional when serving documents
Despite Hollywood stereotypes, process servers do not intimidate the people they interact with. Process servers have professional standards they adhere to.
There’s no point becoming abusive or threatening to the person who is receiving court documents. It’s probably not going to work. And it’s likely to get the field agent fired and charged with assault.
The process servers at Melbourne Investigations are all trained professionals. We are respectful and careful every time we deliver documents. Maintaining a calm, professional approach helps keep things moving quickly and safely. Avoiding confrontation is key.
Using these three techniques can help document delivery to proceed efficiently and safely.
