Imagine a stranger rushing up to ring your doorbell or coming to your office with court filings that he or she must give you in person. If this ever happens to you, it probably means you are being served legal process. You could feel intimidated and as if you're being hunted, but it's important to remember that you have a legal right to these filings as part of the due process guarantee. Whether these filings are in relation to civil or criminal matters or issues large or small, you should not dismiss them.

We are interested in explaining some of the types of court filings you can be given more extensively in our attempt to ease your anxieties.

States have different rules for who can serve process, but it's best if the opposing party has hired a professional like those at divorce attorney Spanish Fork UT to do the job. These people will understand all the legal rules and ramifications, particularly about things like stalking and trespassing, so they can ensure that both the rights of the recipient and the responsibilities of the plaintiff or prosecutor are attended to.

Let's go over the general kinds of court filings you could be handed by a constable:

Administrative Summons: These are sent by the IRS and help ensure that everyone follows the tax laws. These summons require the receiving party to appear before a federal tax examiner and produce verifying documents. This is usually the last step in an IRS investigation after agents have sought out the past-due tax bill in other ways.

Citation: These relatively minor summons are given, usually, by law enforcement, so aren't exactly process serving. The most common citations, including traffic tickets, generally require that you show up in court or pay fines by a specified date. Accepting one of these is not an admission of guilt but, rather, a pledge that you will show up. If you don't show up, it can mean immediate findings of fault and escalating fines and court fees.

Civil Summons: This legal call to court includes a precise time when you should show up at court. It is different from a simple filing informing you of the legal proceedings.

Complaints: A complaint is a kind of legal filing, usually civil, and is the first kind of legal document filed in a court case. If you are given one of these, it means you have been sued and are now a defendant in a lawsuit. Criminal complaints are more serious than tickets or citations but often less sever than indictments.

Indictments: These criminal filings are handed down after a grand jury , which meets without a judge, gathers to weigh evidence in a criminal case against you. A grand jury, like a regular jury, is made up of peers but the proceedings aresecret. This special jury meets to decide whether the prosecutor has enough evidence to charge you with a major. Without grand jury approval to go forward, the most serious crimes, such a murders, cannot be argued before a judge. Indictment documents will be served to you or your legal representative.

Petitions: This kind legal document begins a court case, but asks for something other than money These can also be served in cases such as those in family law.

Small Claims Summons: Process serving documents related to small debts generally come from small claims court as complaints. These generally mean you have to pay the debt or to meet your opponent in court. If you don't, you will likely have a credit judgment against you.

Subpoenas: These fall under different rules from complaints and generally have to be approved by a court clerk. They are a kind of summons, but they require you to appear as a witness, require you to present documents or require you to attend a deposition with an lawyer. These are often sent between attorneys rather than to you personally, but ignoring them can mean contempt charges or a forfeiture of your claims and a ruling against you.

Summons: Whether whether it's a felony, misdemeanor, tort or otherwise, a summons is an order for you to show up in a court. These usually state a specific date and time to appear. If you don't appear, you can either be deemed "non-responsive" and lose the case or can be charged criminally.

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, like the constitutional documents of many other countries around the globe, protect people by guaranteeing due process of law. That means everyone is entitled to a chance to argue their case in a fair, equitable forum. Professional process service is a very important part of this civil guarantee and, when done the right way, can make the lawsuit work better.