FAQ

Our team prioritizes timeliness and works to ensure documents are served as quickly as possible. Depending on the location and complexity, we often provide same-day or next-day service for urgent cases.

YM DOC SERVICES strictly adheres to state and local laws governing process serving. Our experienced team is well-versed in legal requirements, ensuring that every service is conducted professionally and in full compliance with regulations.

Florida law allows three types of people to serve civil process: the county sheriff, a “special process server” appointed by the sheriff (Fla. Stat. Section 48.021), or a certified process server appointed by the chief judge of the judicial circuit (Fla. Stat. Section 48.27). YM Doc Services’ process servers are certified under this section, which authorizes us to serve initial civil process on people found within our certified circuit.

YM Doc Services offers four flat-rate service tiers, each including up to 4 attempts, GPS-stamped attempt records, real-time client portal updates, and a signed affidavit within 24 hours of completion: Routine, starting at $80 (first attempt within 5-7 business days); Rush, starting at $100 (first attempt within 2-3 business days); Priority, starting at $150 (first attempt within 24 hours, call to confirm availability); and Priority Same Day, starting at $200 (same-day attempt, call to confirm availability). Pricing may vary for evasive subjects, gated communities, after-hours serves, or locations outside our Seminole, Orange, and West Volusia County territory. See our full pricing breakdown for details.

Sheriff’s office fees are set independently by each county and are separate from private certified process server rates. Base statutory sheriff fees are set under Fla. Stat. Section 30.231, but each county sheriff publishes its own current fee schedule, typically higher than the statutory floor. Contact the Orange, Seminole, or Volusia County Sheriff’s Office civil process division directly for current rates. A private certified process server like YM Doc Services can usually offer faster, more predictable turnaround than the sheriff’s office; see our pricing page for our current rates.

It depends on the type of document and, sometimes, which state’s court issued it. For most Florida civil process, leaving papers unattended on a doorstep does not count as valid service – Florida law requires either handing the documents directly to the person, or leaving them at their usual place of abode with a resident who is at least 15 years old and informing that person of the contents (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(1)(a)). Evictions and witness subpoenas each carry their own specific service rules. If the process originates from another state’s court, such as New York, that state’s service rules may come into play even though service is happening in Florida. New York allows a method known as “nail and mail” (CPLR Section 308(4)): affixing the papers to the door and mailing a copy, but only as a last resort after genuine, documented attempts to hand the papers to the person directly or leave them with someone else at the home or workplace have failed.

This depends on who is being served. At an individual’s home, Florida Statute Chapter 48 does not set a fixed number of attempts for residential substituted service – it only requires that the papers be left at the person’s usual residence with a qualifying resident who is 15 or older and informed of the contents. YM Doc Services includes up to 4 attempts as standard practice on every order, at different times and days, to give the best chance of completing service. At a sole proprietor’s place of business, the law does set a number: two attempts to serve the owner in person are required before the papers can be left with the person in charge of the business (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(2)(b)). For a criminal witness subpoena requiring a court appearance, three attempts at different times and dates are required before the subpoena can be posted at the witness’s residence; only one attempt is required if it is for a deposition rather than a court appearance (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(3)(b)).

This isn’t actually set by Chapter 48 – it comes from the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 1.070(j) requires the initial complaint and summons to be served within 120 days of filing. If that doesn’t happen, the court can either order service by a specific new deadline or dismiss the case without prejudice (or drop that defendant), unless the person who filed the suit shows good cause or excusable neglect for the delay.

Generally, you need a sheriff or a certified process server – a spouse typically cannot serve the other spouse in a divorce. Florida law does allow one spouse to accept substituted service for the other in narrow situations, but it specifically excludes cases where the lawsuit is adversarial between the spouses (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(2)(a)). A divorce is adversarial by definition, so this exception doesn’t apply – a neutral certified process server or the sheriff needs to complete service.

Yes. Florida law requires gated residential communities, including condo and co-op associations, to grant unannounced entry – including to common areas – to someone attempting to serve process on a resident known to be in the community (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(7)).

Yes, and Florida law requires your employer to cooperate: if a process server authorized to serve you contacts your employer, the employer must allow service to happen in a private area. An employer who refuses can be fined up to $1,000 (Fla. Stat. Section 48.031(1)(b)).