How to Serve Your Court Papers

When you file your case in Court, you have to let the other person or the other "party" know through the official court process. It’s not enough to tell them, email them or even write them a letter about your plans. Instead, you must notify them with official court documents. This is what it means to have them "served."

Request for Service form

When you file, there will be a lot of forms for you to fill out. Among the forms is one called "Request for Service." If you use one of the Form Assistants on this website, the Request for Service form will be included. You can also use the form on this page.

You are responsible for:

• Filling out a form letting the Clerk of Courts know exactly how you want to have the other party served
• Following up with the Clerk to see if service was successful or not

Most people choose "Certified Mail"

In Lorain County, the preferred method of service is "Certified Mail," which means the Clerk of Courts will send the paperwork to the other party using certified mail through the U.S. Postal Service. 

Note: Regular mail as your first option of service is not appropriate. The Court would not consider that good service.

To request service in your case:

• Fill out the Request for Service form. Check the box for "Certified Mail" if you are choosing this common option.
• Provide a copy of the pleading to be served. You must give the Clerk of Courts a copy of the document you are trying to have served. For example, if you are serving your divorce papers, provide a copy of your complaint for divorce.

If the other party signs for the mail, the Postal Service will notify the Clerk of Courts. The Clerk of Courts will enter the information on the docket, and service will be considered complete.

You can find rules for service of a complaint or counterclaim in the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 4 through 4.6).

Check the case docket for updates

To find out if the other party has been served, check the case docket by searching for your case on the Lorain County Clerk of Court's website. Search by your case number or your name. If your case is filed in Juvenile Court, call the Juvenile Clerk at 440-329-5277. Juvenile case dockets are not online. 

If you cannot find any information about service, you may need to contact the Clerk’s office to ask if service was successful. Have your case number available.

If the other party was served, plan on attending your hearing as scheduled.

If service fails

If the other party wasn't served, it could be that you have the wrong address. It could also be that service was refused or unclaimed.

If service is refused or unclaimed, the Clerk will enter information on the docket. You’ll have to go to the Clerk’s office again, fill out another "Request for Service" form and provide another copy of the document you need to have served. This time, you may request service by "Ordinary Mail" instead of certified mail.

Note: You can only request service by ordinary mail when an item is returned for being "refused" or "unclaimed," not for any other reason.

If the mail is returned as “Addressee Unknown” or “Insufficient Address,” find out what address the other party is using. Use every resource that you can, including Google and social media. Then you’ll need to file a new "Request for Service" form and request service to the new address.

Wait another 2 weeks. Then call the Clerk and make sure the papers were sent out. If they were, you don’t need to do anything else except prepare for your hearing. If they weren’t, ask the Clerk why and request that they send it again.

Other options for service

You can also ask the Court to have the sheriff serve the other party. In Lorain County, there is a cost for this — $75 for Domestic Relations Court or $50 for Juvenile Court as of February 2025. (There is no cost for a domestic violence filing.) Also, if the other party lives outside Lorain County, you may be responsible for contacting the other county’s sheriff to figure out how much it would cost them to serve the other party. This can be a useful option if the other party is abusive.

What if you don't know the other party's address and can't find it by searching online, talking to relatives or any other way? It's possible to do something called "Service by Publication," but this can be expensive and can make it more complicated for you to get a divorce. Consider getting advice from a lawyer if this option seems necessary.

Service by publication

If service fails or you can’t find the other party's address, you may be able to serve them by “publishing” information about your case. With this kind of service, the legal notice goes to the local newspaper to publish.

In Lorain County, the deposit for service by publication is $2,000 for Domestic Relations Court. For Juvenile Court, the deposit for service by publication is $250 as of February 2025. You also will need to pay an additional fee set by the newspaper. In Lorain County, local newspapers are the Chronicle and the Oberlin Tribune.

Service by publication may be an option if:

• You don’t know the other party's address.
• Your case is in Domestic Relations or Juvenile Court.
• You have had trouble serving the other party. 
• You have taken reasonable steps to find the other party’s address but still can’t find it.

To ask for service by publication, file a request with the Clerk of Courts:

• Fill out the Request for Service form. Check the box for “Defendant/Petitioner” and then check “Other” and write “Service by publication, address correction requested.” 
• Include an affidavit. You need to give the Court a sworn statement saying you don’t know the other party's address and you haven’t been able to find it, even though you have tried. You can use the form on this site to create your affidavit.

In your affidavit for service by publication, include:

• A statement that you can’t serve the other party because their address is unknown. Court rules suggest that you include the following language: “Service of summons cannot be made because the residence of the defendant is unknown to the affiant.” By making this statement you are swearing to the Court that you can’t get service because you don’t know the other party’s address.
• Everything you did to try to find the address. Show the Court that you have taken reasonable steps to try to find the other party's address. You can use the following language: “The efforts made to ascertain the residence of the defendant are:” Then list all the steps you have taken to try to find it.
• A statement that the address can’t be found. Court rules suggest using the following language: “The residence of the defendant cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence.” This means even though you have taken reasonable steps, you still can’t figure out where the other party is living.

Once you have entered the information:

• Take the form to a notary. Print out the form, but don’t sign anything yet. You will need to sign it in front of a notary. The notary will check your identification, watch you sign and stamp where needed with an official seal. Court staff at the Lorain County Domestic Relations Court can notarize forms for you.
• Make photocopies. After the notary stamps your documents, make at least one photocopy for your records.

File your completed affidavit and Request for Service form with the Lorain County Clerk of Courts.

If your request is approved, a notice about your case will be published for 6 weeks. Once it’s complete, the Clerk will post an update to your case docket. Then the other party will be “served.”

Service by posting

If service fails or you don’t know the other party’s address, you may be able to serve them by “posting and mail.” This is only an option if you filed a fee waiver or poverty affidavit with your case.

This means you let the other party know about the case by having it posted in a public place and mailed to their last known address.

Service by posting and mail may be an option if:

• You are filing your case with a fee waiver or poverty affidavit.
• Your case is in Domestic Relations or Juvenile Court.
• You don’t know where the other party lives.
• You have taken reasonable steps to find their address.
• You have a last known address for the other party (even if you know they aren’t living there now).

To ask for service by posting and mail, you must file a request with the Clerk of Courts:

• Fill out the Request for Service form. Check the box for “Defendant/Petitioner” and then check “Other” and write “Service by posting and ordinary mail, address correction requested.”
• Complete an affidavit. You must give the Court an affidavit – or a sworn statement – saying you don’t know the other party’s address and you haven’t been able to find it, even though you have tried. You can use the form on this site to create your affidavit. Be sure to enter all the required information, including the other party’s last known address.

In your affidavit for service by posting and mail, include:

• A statement that you can’t serve the other party because their address is unknown. Court rules suggest that you include the following language: “Service of summons cannot be made because the residence of the defendant is unknown to the affiant.” By making this statement you are swearing to the Court that you can’t get service because you don’t know the other party’s address.
• Everything you did to try to find the address. Show the Court that you have taken reasonable steps to try to find the other party’s address. You can use the following language: “The efforts made to ascertain the residence of the defendant are:” Then list all the steps you have taken to try to find it. 
• A statement that the address can’t be found. Court rules suggest using the following language: “The residence of the defendant cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence.” This means even though you have taken reasonable steps, you still can’t figure out where the other party is living.
• The other party’s last known address. Even if you know the other party isn’t still living there, you must provide the most recent address where you know the other party lived.

Once you have entered the information:

• Take the form to a notary. Print out the form, but don’t sign anything yet. You will need to sign it in front of a notary. The notary will check your identification, watch you sign and stamp where needed with an official seal. Court staff can notarize forms for you.
• Make photocopies. After the notary stamps your documents, make at least one photocopy for your records.

File your completed affidavit and Request for Service form with the Lorain County Clerk of Courts.

If the Court approves your request, the Clerk will post a notice about your case in the courthouse and 2 other public places for 6 weeks. The Clerk also will mail the case papers to the other party’s last known address.

If the Clerk gets a corrected address for the other party within the 6-week period, the Clerk will mail the case papers to that address.

Once the process is complete, the Clerk will post an update to your case docket. Then the other party will be “served.”

If nothing works

If the Court can’t serve the other party at all, you will have to ask the Court to reschedule your hearing. Once you have been given a new date and time, you can repeat the same steps above.