If someone refuses to be served a summons or other court documents then they risk forfeiting their rights.
In some cases if a person refuses to serve and they have a criminal court case against them to appear in court and they do not then they could get a warrant out for their arrest.
But if you're being sued and refuse to be served and don't appear in court or respond to the papers being served then it can go against you and the person suing you can and will almost always automatically win the case against you.
Refusing to be served will also not stop the serving of the papers right away as they will continue in most cases to try to serve you.
You can know if a summons has been served by contacting the police department, courthouse, lawyer or the process server.
Some summons are served by the sheriff and others are served through a process server.
You can also get a summons in the mail either by regular mail or certified mail.
You may also get a summons served in person by a sheriff or process server but most often a summons comes in mail but if you don't respond or they don't think you'll respond the summons will be served in person.
If the summons comes by certified mail you have to sign for it to be received.
I've gotten summons in regular mail before and even subpoenas as well.
The difference between a summons and a subpoena are a summons marks the beginning of a court case, a subpoena comes after a case has begun and requires the person who receives it to provide evidence that is considered important to the outcome of the case.
You can still receive a subpoena even if you aren't directly involved in the case.
A summons is a form prepared by the plaintiff and issued by a court that informs the defendant that they are being sued or are required to appear in court.
It may be served by a sheriff or other authorized person, such as the process server.
If you receive a form called a Summons (form SUM-100) it means that someone is suing you in court.
In addition to the Summons, you'll also receive another document, called a Complaint.
The Complaint says why you are being sued.
When you're summoned to come to court, that is basically your notice that a criminal case or other case has been filed against you.
And, you're usually served with a summons by a Constable or you may receive the summons in the mail, certified mail.