Serve your Response by mail
Your Response can be served by mail. This means another adult, not you, mails a copy of your Response to the other parent (the petitioner). The person who mails your response is your server. Your server must sign a form saying they mailed the papers. You file this form with the court.
How to serve your Response by mail
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Choose a server
You can't serve papers yourself. Ask another adult – a server – to mail the papers.
Your server must be:
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18 or over, and
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Not part of your case
Your server can be someone you know or a professional process server you hire.
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Have your server mail the papers
Your server mails the these papers to the other person:
- A copy of your Response
- Any other papers you filed (except any fee waivers)
If they have a lawyer, mail the papers to their lawyer. Tell your server to note the date they mailed the papers. Your server needs this date to fill out the Proof of Service form.
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Have your server complete the Proof of Service form
You can use Proof of Service by Mail (form FL-335). It helps if you fill in the top part of the form with the case and court information. Your server can then fill in the information about how, when, and where they mailed the papers. Your server must sign and date the form.
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Copy and file the Proof of Service form
- Make a copy of your Proof of Service form.
- File the original and copy with the court where you filed the papers. The court will stamp and return the copy.
- Keep the copy of the Proof of Service form for your records.
Respond to a parentage case
What's next?
Once you’ve served your Response, file it with the court if you haven't already done that. Once you have filed and served your Response, you can move forward to finalize the case. You and the other person will need to either come to an agreement or ask the court to decide about any issues where you don't agree.