Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Subpoena or Not

Subpoenas are never delivered to an "accused," if by that term you are referring to the defendant in a criminal case. Criminal defendants receive notice of the proceeding by being arrested or cited, and then being informed of the charges at the arraignment hearing. In civil cases, a lawsuit (a civil complaint or petition) is served on the defendant or the respondent by "personal service" which means someone who is over 18 years of age and who is not a party to the lawsuit hand-delivers a copy. A "Subpoena" is normally hand-delivered to someone who is a witness (but not a party) in a legal proceeding. If you have to personally serve someone, the best way is to use a professional private process serving company. You can also pay the sheriff to hand-deliver a subpoena or civil lawsuit, but they do not try as hard -- sometimes the person you wish to serve may be evasive, or successful service can involve staking out their home or place of business. Different rules apply to people who are out of state or non-natural persons such as corporations. You can look up this topic in the Cal. Code of Civil Procedure (www.leginfo.ca.gov) beginning at about Section 410.