Legal Question in Family Law in California

Not really. If they are on official business from the government/military, then no. That is because they are not there on their own accord.

Serve them when they are off duty and off the base.

I disagree with Mr. Wheeler, for several reasons.

First of all, the fact that a person in the military is off base does not mean they are not on "duty." I know this from military law through what are known as "line of duty" (LOD) investigations.

Second, your question really involves the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Any member of the uniformed services serving on active duty is covered under the Act. This includes reserve component personnel called to active duty.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects servicemembers from certain judicial proceedings until they return from military service, deployment or overseas tours of duty. If the person is in military service or is within 90 days after termination of or release from military service and has received notice of a civil action or proceeding.the court may on its own motion and shall, upon application by the servicemember, stay the action for a period of not less than 90 days.

The prohibition, however, does not extend to service. Servicemembers may be served, but can ask the court to appoint them a lawyer to represent their interests until they return.

In family law situations, service of papers on a servicemember will sometimes result in a stay of the proceedings. How the handle that, however, is beyond the scope of this post.