You are here

can restraining order paperwork be served by the same person who filed?

cassie's picture
Forums: 

My husband's ex-wife has filed a restraining order, the only way we know this is because she threatened it and then we checked the court website a few days later and there it was. The court date set for the hearing is on the 10th of September and she filed it on the 18th of August. We still have not received anything. Does the court give her a certain number of days to have the paperwork served? Can she serve it herself? What if she doesn't have it served at all and it goes to court and he is a no show? How would the courts determine whether or not he was actually served? We are worried that she may be up to no good trying to take his custody away and want to know what we should do.

B's picture

My DH's ex was incredibly shady in the beginning of their divorce, and did something similar. She filed paperwork requesting sole custody, spousal support, supervised visitation that he had to pay for, and a bunch of other stuff, and because he was never served and didn't know she was awarded everything! He took it back to court and when she couldn't even give them the name of who had served him they re-opened it and things were modified. If you know the court date/time, Go!

Here in WA you're supposed to be served 30 days prior, and it has to be served by someone who isn't a party to the proceedings.

cassie's picture

Thank you so much for the info. We were thinking the same thing...just show up! It might ruin her plans. Thanks for your input.

smurfy1smile's picture

In MN the person filing cannot serve the papers. A third party has to sign a notorized statement stating who they are, their age, who the papers were sent to, the address the papers were sent to, which post office they were mailed from and how served if not by mail. The sheriff can serve papers too and he too has to sign a statement. Either way these documents have to be filed with the court and if they are not the court date is canceled.

yesican's picture

I had a protection order filed against me on 8-22 and received it from a sheriff on 8-27, I went to the court and had them serve me there. I live in ks and here you have to be served by the sheriff. Hang in there I know that these things can weight very heavy on you and your dh. I will be so glad when this is all over!!! The judges here just give them out without good cause.

"Love is strong yet delicate. It can be broken. To truly love is to understand this. To be in love is to respect this."

DESGUIZED ANGEL's picture

Not in Texas. I would highly doubt that you can be served by the person making the alligations, since they are an interested party.

melis070179's picture

I had to file a restraining order on my ex-husband, you are not allowed to serve it yourself & you have to file a proof of service with the court in order for it to be granted, which has to be done by the court date. Usually people just have the sherriff's office or their lawyer do it. The only time you don't have to show proof of service is if the person you are serving is in jail, as was my case.

Ray's picture

I got a restraining order by my ex. She had it given to me by a mutual friend. Now trust me when I say she had no cause to give them to me, I don't mind not seeing her. But the Restraining order prohibits me from owning my guns. Now I did some research and found that a Marshal has to serve the orders does this mean that since they were given to me by a mutual friend that they were not served to me? Does this make her claim invalid?