Number Pages In Legal Washington Options Forms For Free

Under Washington law, you are responsible for serving the defendant, but the law does not require a particular person or entity. Anyone over the age of 18 can serve legal documents?a friend or family member, for example. Basically, anyone old enough can be your own process server.

In Washington, you can serve papers by having someone who is 18 years old or older hand-deliver them to your spouse. You can hire a professional process server, or you can ask a friend to hand-deliver the papers to your spouse.

The Notice can be served only by (1) a person over the age of 18 who is competent to be a witness and is not a party to the action, or (2) the sheriff or a deputy of the county in which the court is located. Instead of personal service, the Notice can be sent to the defendant by registered or certified mail.

Any person, other than yourself, who is at least 18-years-old, must hand the documents directly to the other party. You can hire a company or the Sheriff's Office in the county in which the other party resides to serve the documents.

The plaintiff shall promptly file proof of service of the summons and complaint with the Clerk of Court after service has been accomplished. (m) Time Limit for Service. The presumptive time period within which a defendant should be served is 90 days after the complaint is filed.

In Washington, substitute service is effective when a copy of the summons is left at the defendant's usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then resident therein.