8,081
edits
Changes
2023 HGCQ updates
{{LSSbadge
|resourcetype = a self-help guide for
|link = [httphttps://wwwfamily.familylaw.lsslegalaid.bc.ca/guidesbc-legal-system/legal-forms-documents/miniserving-documents/howToArrangeAlternativeService.php alternative arranging alternative <br/>(substitutional) service]
}}
Personal service is normally accomplished by getting another adult (not the one who’s making the claim) to physically handing hand a copy of the Notice of Family Claim to the respondent; really, the documents only need to touch the respondent's body. This is not always possible. If you do not know where the person you want to sue lives, or if that person is avoiding being served, you may have to apply to court for an order that gives you have permission to personally serve the respondent in a way other than using an alternative method. Rule 6-4 talks about the way set out in the rulesprocess for alternative methods of service, also known as ''substituted service''. This is called Someone who receives substituted serviceis said to be ''substitutionally served''.
==Applying for an order for substituted service==
The ''requisition'' will describe the order that you want the court to make and your ''affidavit'' will set out the reasons why personal service is impossible. Since the documents you file are all that a judge will see in a desk order application, you need to be thorough, and the judge will not allow the application if they don’t think you have made a sufficient degree of effort. What should your application include? If service is not possible because you don't know where the respondent is, you should say so. You should also state whether or not you have means of contacting the respondent, for example, through family or friends. If you can't serve the respondent because they are avoiding service, you should describe how you've tried to serve the respondent and how often you've tried. If you hired a process server, and that was not successful, include details and evidence of that effort in your affidavit. Your application should also present a plan for how substituted service should be done, whether that’s: * sending the materials to an email address you know they use, * leaving the materials with a friend, employer, or family member of the respondent whom you have reason to believe will get their attention, * mailing it to an address there’s a valid reason to think they will receive it,* by advertisement in a newspaper classifieds, assuming you have some idea what region they are in, or* if options are truly limited, by asking to be allowed to post it in the registry. Because the respondent hasn't been served, you can make your application right away, for a desk order without having to follow the usual rules that give the respondent time to reply to your application. You can file your application and have your application heard the same day. Apart from this, the remainder of your application <span class="noglossary">will</span> be just like the normal application process that is described in another guide called [[How Do I Make an Interim Application in a Family Law Matter in the Supreme Court?]].
==Options for substituted service==
*posting a copy of the documents to the door of their home or office,
*posting a copy of the documents in the local post office, or*mailing it to the respondent by registered mail, *emailing or sending the materials by some other internet-powered means, if you have an email or other online account that you know the respondent is using.
The particular method the court considers appropriate <span class="noglossary">will</span> always depend on the circumstances and what is reasonable in those circumstances.
==More information==
The steps listed above focus on BC Supreme Court. You can find more information about the both Supreme Court and Provincial Court procedure for serving documents in the chapter [[Resolving by substitute service on Legal Aid BC’s Family Law Problems in Court]] within the section website’s information page: [[Starting a Court Proceeding in a Family Matter]https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/bc-legal-system/legal-forms-documents/serving-documents/alternative Arrange for Alternative (Substitutional) Service].
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Megan Ellis|Megan Ellis, QC]], June 9, 2019}}
{{Creative Commons for JP Boyd}}
[[Category:How Do I?Helpful Guides & Common Questions|S]]
[[Category:Starting a Family Law Action]]
[[Category:JP Boyd on Family Law]]