Daughter has skipped town and sheriff came to the door

I'm not sure, but if she doesn't show up for the court date, they can get a default judgement, if I am not mistaken..Karen

Yes if she doesn't answer or show up they will get a default judgement. You did the right thing by not accepting the summons if u don't know her where abouts. If she doesn't show up for the discovery part, where they want all ur personal information, they can get a bench warrant for her.... but that's further down the road...
Good Luck,
Ang

For a matter to proceed in court, service would need to be made on the defendant. Theoretically, if they can't serve your daughter, then the case cannot go on.

Not sure how it works in other states, but in Illinois the first attempt must be made by a sheriff. If the sheriff returns the summons "not served" then the plaintiff can motion to appoint a special process server (private investigator). The PI then digs a little deeper to find a person and serve them with an alias summons. If successful, the case goes on to be heard by the judge whether or not the defendant shows up.

However we know that there are shady process servers out there that will tell a court service was made even if it really hasn't been. In these cases, the plaintiff can get a default judgment without the defendant even knowing about the court date, and it is a long process to try to reverse the judgment.

Another thing that some courts allow is service by publication, meaning the plaintiff can post a notice of the court date in a newspaper. After that, the case may continue for them to get a default judgment.

In some cases (if the plaintiff is willing to put a lot of their own money into the case), they might do some pre-trial discovery sort-of-thing (not sure if that's the right terms...). For example, their attorney could send you a subpoena and demand you to answer their questions under oath, namely your daughter's whereabouts. At that point, if you were to lie to the court, you could be held in contempt. They may do this to anyone who they think might know where she is.

Have you asked any of her friends about where she might be..aren't you concerned since you haven't heard from her? Or do you really know where she is at and just don't want them to know?. If you do know where she is it might be in her best interest if you told her about this.

ladybug

If you can talk to her about how much this debt is.Tell her the law is looking for her but if she is still NOT going to pay this bill then she needs to move to a non-garnishment state.Its the only way she will be able to get them off her back.I just had a good friend had to move because he had a garnisment on him.He could not pay the rent or the light bill.He was in very bad shape.The collection company even threaten him and told him he could not move until the whole bill was paided up.And if he did leave they will put him in jail!!!!!!!Just what he moved here to South Carolina and he is happy.He also went to the court house talked to the clerk on duty she told him there is nothing they can do here in this county.

Hi Bud-SC....wow, maybe we should all move to SC then! Kidding...as much as having a summons served is not pleasant at all, lets use caution in advising to move to another state to run from debt.

Thanks!

Bud-sc i'm very happy for your friend.he is a very smart man.

WOW!!!! I'm a single mom. If my child 'skipped' town, and I had no idea where he was, i would be conatcting as many people ( law inforcement, etc) as I could. I understand about the summons, but, I would want to find out if he was safe, etc. I'm sure that's 'breaking your heart'.not knowing whether your child is safe or not.

DebtCruncher is right, but in a very few states, if the defendant can't be served after a stated time, "process by publication" is allowed (ie. printing it in the legal section of the ads in the local paper).

Hey, 'Law'.......have you seen this done? I mean, people putting ads in the paper to find someone, and SUCCESSFULLY finding them?

HI Sd- What Law meant was serving someone via publication, not really putting an ad in to find the person. :)

I have seen those posted in the business or the classified section of my newspaper. They have to run them for a certain period of time. Such as in adoption cases. Not really sure how long they have to run the publication for.

ladybug

it is my understanding, that South Carolina is a very "consumer friendly" state. I used to work at the Bank and we had (and I can't remember the names of them) special documents for those in SC when it came to DOTS and Mortgages.

question though regarding summons how long is a summons servable?
I had a check that accidently bounced a couple weeks prior to my moving out of state, I honestly had no idea about it; just a simply error in the chaos of my moving. a year and half later I moved back to that state, and while I was applying and accepting a job, I was turned down due to the fact, the "criminal summons" was on my record. Long story short, I had to go the courthouse and get "served" make a court date, paid the check off infront of the judge and DA, and the DA dismissed the case due to the fact I had never done that before, had no record at all, and it was, he believed, an honest mistake.


so, not sure this the right place on the site to ask, but did the summons seem right to be served 17 months later, and I read it the back of it, and it cleary showed that occupant has moved out of state. (they must have questioned the neighbors?) I did leave a forwarding address fyi.

thanks. sorry it was soo long! :oops:

Law Student is right- they publish notice of suit in our Legal Paper, and give them so many days to respond.

I had a dip try to serve papers on my son about an auto accident, I told him he wasn't here, I wasn't accepting it, and that he would be back if a couple of hours.

I closed the door , and the next morning I found the summons in a mud puddle! I called my auto agent, they asked how it was served!..KAren

see that is even funnier.. like i was going to see the local paper 5 states away.. like I was to know to even look for it.. LOL!!!
bottom line it is paid , dismissed, but still shows on my record as a misdemeanor-- dismissed.
and for some places employment or other wise that is still not good.
I could have it expunged, but who has over a grand to expunged something that is "dismissed" I also heard unless it says- guilty you cant have it expunged. so go figure...
:roll: