Personal Service

This means that service is accomplished by directly serving the party who will respond to the petition. In family law, this applies specifically to Petitions for Contempt and Orders or Protection. Those items are required to be “personally served;” therefore, the responding party’s attorney cannot accept service of those items like they are able to do for all other family law petitions. Additionally, service cannot be accomplished by leaving the paperwork with an adult at the responding party’s last-known address.