Serving Documents

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Serving Documents

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Serving documents, means giving the other party court documents. You must serve court documents following the processes for service in the court rules. There are two ways to Serve Documents: Personal Service and Ordinary Service

Personal Service 

Personal service occurs when someone physically hands the document over to the other party who needs to receive it. Personal service must be done by someone over the age of 18. You cannot personally serve a document on the other party. Someone else has to do it for you. It can be someone you know or you can hire a professional, called a process server.

Ordinary Service 

Ordinary service usually means that the document was dropped at their address for service, mailed, faxed, or emailed to the other party. You will have to choose the method of service depending on the information that they provided on their court documents. Remember to use whatever the other party has listed as their address for service and nothing else.

Lawyer’s Tips

Do not deliver anything to an address that is not listed; even if you know the right email or fax number to use.

How to Serve? 

How you need to serve a document depends on what court you are dealing with and what document you are using. Do not make assumptions about how to serve a document. Instead, check the rules frequently to make sure that you are following the proper service procedures. 

Resources

For a step by step guide on how to serve documents see Serving Documents .

Provincial Court Chart

Personal ServiceOrdinary Service
  • an Application About a Family Law Matter (Form 3); 
  • an Application About a Protection Order, unless you're asking for an "urgent order without notice"; 
  • a Protection Order (the registry will arrange to serve this document if the person is in BC); 
  • an Application About Priority Parenting Matter (Form 15) (if the court file doesn't have an address for service for the other person).
  • All other documents

Supreme Court Chart

Personal ServiceOrdinary Service
  • Notice of Family Claim (F3)
  • Application to change , suspend or terminate a final order (F31)
  • Counterclaim if new Respondent
  • Petition (F73)
  • Notice of withdrawal (F7)
  • All other documents

Resources

See the Legal Aid BC Guide for serving documents in Provincial Court and Supreme Court 

Proof of Service 

Once you’ve served your documents, you should be able to prove you have served them in case the court requires it. To prove you have served a document, an affidavit will be needed. Whoever has served the documents will need to fill out an affidavit stating they served the document and have it notarized. Refer back to Affidavits for information on how to write affidavits. The affidavit form will depend on the court and type of service.

Type of Service Court Form 
Supreme Court Personal ServiceAffidavit of Personal Service Form 15 
Supreme Court Ordinary ServiceAffidavit of Ordinary Service Form 16 
Provincial Court Personal ServiceCertificate of Service Form7 

Lawyer’s Tips

For provincial matters the affidavits to prove service are attached to the application to obtain order forms.

Last Reviewed:March, 2024 Reviewed by:JES
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