Introduction
What are some alternative methods of service?
You must present a reasonable plan to the judge/master for delivering the documents so they'll get to the person you need to serve. For example, if you believe that the other party would definitely receive the documents if you gave them to their mother, include that information in your affidavit. Include the mother's name and address, as the judge/master will need to include those details in the order. If you have a mailbox number, address, fax number, or email address for the person to be served, include that information, and ask if you may serve the person by mail, fax, or email. You can also ask if the person may be served by taping a notice to their door.
If you have no contact information at all, and you don't know of any family members, friends, employers, or other acquaintances who could bring the application to the other party’s notice, you must state this in your affidavit. Under these circumstances, you could ask if you can serve the documents by posting an advertisement in the newspaper in the community where you believe the other party lives. You must draft the announcement in the proper format: for Supreme Court cases, a Notice for Publication (Form F11). You must also pay for the costs of the advertisement.
You could also ask the judge/master to allow you to serve the other party by posting a copy of your Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) in the court registry. This is the cheapest method of alternative service, but you must first make every effort to find the other party (and be prepared to prove that you've done so).
If the judge/master agrees to allow you to serve the documents this way, they will specify how long the documents must stay posted at the court registry. You'll have to take the order for substituted service and a copy of your Notice of Family Claim (Form F3 in Supreme Court) to the court registrar. The registrar will date stamp the documents for you to put up on the board. You'll have to take them down again. Different courts may have different procedures for doing this. Ask at the court registry how to proceed.
If you get an order for substituted service, you must serve the document exactly as ordered and include a copy of the order with the documents to be served, unless the judge/master says otherwise.
See Supreme Court Family Rule 6-4 and Rule 10-8 for more information about substituted service applications.
For more information about other ways to serve documents, see JP Boyd on Family Law.