Process Serving Services Across Massachusetts
Process serving delivers legal documents — a summons, a complaint, a subpoena — to a party in a lawsuit in a way that satisfies Massachusetts civil procedure, so the case can actually move forward. A case can stall for weeks if service isn’t completed properly, which is where a dedicated process server earns their fee.
Massachusetts rules call for personal service on an individual wherever possible; where that fails after genuine attempts, substitute service on a competent adult member of the household is allowed, and service on a business goes to its registered agent, officer, or person in charge. Service can’t happen on a Sunday, and every completed service comes with a notarized affidavit of service — the court document that proves it actually happened.
- ✓Personal service attempts at home, work, or wherever the party can legally be found
- ✓Skip-tracing support when the party’s current address isn’t known
- ✓Substitute service on a competent adult household member when personal service genuinely isn’t possible
- ✓Service on businesses through their registered agent, officer, or person in charge
- ✓Notarized affidavits of service, ready to file with the court
What Happens When Someone Avoids Service
A party who’s actively avoiding service doesn’t stop the case — it usually means more attempts, at different times and locations, documented in detail, before substitute service or another court-approved method becomes available. We log every attempt (date, time, location, outcome) so there’s a clear record of due diligence if the court asks for one.
Need Legal Documents Served?
Tell us who needs to be served and what you know about their location. We’ll get started right away.
Common Questions
What if the person won’t open the door? We document the attempt and try again at a different time; a documented pattern of good-faith attempts supports moving to an alternative service method if personal service genuinely isn’t working.
How fast can you complete service? Often within days for a known address; we’ll give you a realistic estimate based on the address and whether the party appears to be avoiding service.
Process serving is conducted under the same Massachusetts private investigator and watch guard licensing framework that covers all of Hub’s services, and every attempt is documented with the date, time, location, and outcome needed for a valid affidavit of service.
When a subject is actively avoiding service, we combine skip-tracing techniques with repeated attempts at varied times and locations rather than repeating the same unsuccessful approach, since a pattern of failed attempts at the same time of day rarely changes the outcome.
What a Hub Process Serving Affidavit Looks Like
Below is a shortened, fictional sample affidavit of service in the same format our process servers file.
HUB SECURITY AND INVESTIGATIVE GROUP
Affidavit of Service — Sample (Fictional)
Case #: SAMPLE-8847 Date Served: 02/12/2026, 18:40 Process Server: J. Alvarez
Summary: Personally served the named defendant at their place of residence with a copy of the summons and complaint. Defendant was identified by physical description matching the provided photograph and confirmed verbally. Two prior attempts (02/09 at 09:15 and 02/10 at 19:30) were unsuccessful and are logged separately.
Recommendation: Affidavit ready for filing with the court.
This is a fictional sample created to illustrate our reporting format — the name, dates, and case details shown are not real.
Every attempt, successful or not, gets logged — courts want to see the full effort, not just the final result.