What Is Meant by Process Server?

Process server is a term which is not usually understood by common man, it is a term used for people who are affiliated in the field of law which is used by lawyers. Today we live in the world which is moving forward and involves agreements and considerations almost everywhere, where one party feels that the other party is not functioning according to their agreements. This is where the job of process server comes in to deliver legal notices. Process servers deliver plaintiffs notifications to defendant, courts paper or notification to the involved parties at their homes and the good thing is that process servers are not party to the case. The hot area of litigation is foreclosure and this creates a greater requirement for process servers. Foreclosure is related to matters regarding property matters. Process servers deliver documents such as writs, court orders, divorce petition, bankruptcy petitions and family proceedings.

This is not a difficult job, but involves a lot of risk too, because when you deliver legal notice to the involved people they might react aggressively towards you and some might even fight with you or start cussing you. The hardest part of the job is when you do not find the defendant as he might have shifted else where or moved into hiding, some don’t answer their phones and doors, then you have to somehow manage and find them and hand them the papers, because it is in their interest if they follow courts order, and if they don’t then they might get in more problems, everybody has to abide by the courts order and present themselves in front of the judge, failure to do so makes matter more worse for the defending party as the court or administrative body may find the defendant in default and award relief to the claimant, petitioner or plaintiff.

Process server is a hot booming field and increasing with good pace, many people have shifted their professions and stepped into it, many of which have shifted from the real estate business as it has declined considerably. Serve fifteen to twenty clients a week and you can expect a good healthy income as much as an attorney earns annually. This business is based on proper charging on fixed fee basis usually ranging from $50 to $200 depending on the urgency and the type of documents.

To become a process server you have to be above the age of eighteen, and in some states there are requirements of an examination and education requirements but it tends to be less than what is required to obtain a real estate license and you can even work from your home.

If you are very well experienced and proper in your field of work then you will not have any problems because then your clients will have trust in your work and this field requires lot of honesty and hard work plus you need to show commitment to succeed in it.

Child Maintenance and the Law

The UK agency which deals with collecting maintenance for children is usually referred to as the Child Support Agency but this is not strictly correct. The name was changed in 2008 following publicity in the media of the catastrophic failures of the CSA. There was a major reorganisation and the name was changed to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission with new powers and constitution. However most people still refer to the CSA and I shall do so in this article.

The question of maintenance for the children of a failed relationship following separation and divorce can become very emotionally charged. People often think of taking disputes over the maintenance payable by the non-resident parent to the courts but the reality is that since the 1990s the courts are no longer able to deal with maintenance for children.

As always however there can be exceptions to this rule.It is possible for the court to deal with child maintenance in a limited number of instances. These are:

- Where the parents both apply to the court for an ‘order by consent’ -such as when they both agree how much will be paid
- Where the child is in full-time education and there are school fees to pay
- Where the child is undergoing vocational training or an apprenticeship and there are expenses to pay
- Where the child is disabled, and there are care costs
- Where the other parent lives abroad on a permanent basis

Where parents have agreed not to divorce but to enter into a formal, written separation agreement, then child maintenance can be incorporated into the agreement and the terms and provisions’converted’ into a consent order in a subsequent divorce.

As a result the Child Support Agency alone can deal with maintenance for children in the vast majority of cases. The result is that cases of disputes over the amount of maintenance are not usually dealt with by lawyers as there will be very little that a lawyer can do to assist. The assessment will be made by the CSA using their formula.

Disputes over the calculation of maintenance are best left to the experts. The CSA will calculate the maintenance based on Gross Income and not Net Income. This calculation does not take into consideration any expenditure of the non-resident parent for a mortgage or usual living expenses although Pension contributions have been confirmed as an allowable expense and can therefore be taken into account,

The new rates of maintenance to be paid from Gross income are:

12% for one child 16% for two children 19% for three or more children If the non-resident parents gross weekly wage is more than £800pw an additional amount will have to be paid.

In cases where the non-resident parent refuses to pay the assessed amount or if it is thought that the assessed figure is not right it is best to approach a specialist for help. Several highly respected firms specialise in giving help and advice to people let down by the CSA and providing support and information when they get it wrong.

Once an assessment has been made it is for the CSA to enforce payment. This could be by taking the non-payer to court and asking for an attachment of earnings order whereby money will be stopped from his (or her) earnings. an alternative to this would be for a warrant of execution to be issued when court bailiffs would be able to seize goods for payment of the maintenance.

It may be possible to enforce payment against a parent living abroad and outside of the jurisdiction of the UK courts. It has to be said however that there are no known cases of this being done by the CSA as it would be too expensive. The answer would probably be for the person entitled to maintenance to ask the court to make a maintenance order and then enforce it themselves in the relevant country.

There are restrictions on what the CSA can deal with. They cannot for example deal with maintenance for children over 17 years of age unless they are still in full-time secondary school education.