Service of necessary copies / martial status
This bulletin has NOT been approved for continuing education credit.
Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure require the summons and pleadings be served together within the time allowed under Rule 4(i) of the Rules of the Superior Court. Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure have a similar requirement under their Court rules as referenced below.
Vendors should review the affidavit of service carefully to confirm the appropriate number of copies are listed on the affidavit. If the affidavit does not reflect the true number of copies served, the vendor should report the issue to Vendor Support immediately upon discovering the error.
There are specific EZM customers that provide summons directed towards a named defendant AND their unknown spouse. These are commonly known as John/Jane Doe spouses. In instances where there is a named defendant AND their unknown spouse, our vendors should have copies for BOTH the named defendant AND their unknown spouse available. Our vendors should have BOTH copies in hand upon approach to attempt service. Vendors should review the affidavit of service carefully to confirm the appropriate number of copies are listed on the affidavit. If the affidavit does not reflect the true number of copies served, the vendor should report the issue to Vendor Support immediately upon discovering the error.
If service is successfully made, our vendors should serve BOTH copies to the person being served. If you were not provided multiple copies to serve to a named-defendant and their spouse, the vendor should report the issue to Vendor Support immediately upon discovering the lack of copies provided.
During the attempt, our vendor should inquire about the current marital status of every defendant who resides at the service address. The information should be collected and transmitted back to EZM via our mobile application.
For example, If the Defendant is currently married, the vendor shall inquire about the name of the Defendant’s spouse. The vendor would select the proper martial status on the mobile application (Yes or No). If the vendor needs to add information concerning the martial status, it should be added within the Service Comments section of the mobile application.
If the Defendant refused to provide martial status information, the vendor would need to document the refusal in the Service Comments section of our mobile application, so it will populate on the Affidavit of Service.
References:
This bulletin has NOT been approved for continuing education credit.