How do you serve legal documents in Mexico?

Answer 1

Serving legal documents in Mexico is somewhat similar to how documents are served in any other country. However, there are particular challenges that are involved in serving papers south of the border, for instance.

Language, although English is widely spoken, Spanish is still the country's primary language, and so it will be necessary in most cases to be able to get around Mexico.

If the defendant to be serve has skip town or does not live at the address on file, the resources for tracing an individual in Mexico are rather limited, so it is important to have as much alternative information about the individual's family as possible, in this way you may have additional places to look for, and find his or her whereabouts.

Usually an affidavit of service must be notarized, and so you will need to visit a U.S. Consular office in Mexico. Notarization by a Mexican notary is possible, but rather time consuming, expensive and not always a sure shot. That is because, even if the affidavit is translated to Spanish, if the notary does not understand the purpose of the document, he or she will not notarize it.

An alternative option is to use a private investigations company in Mexico to serve the documents for you.

Answer 2

Serving civil court documents in Mexico is somewhat similar to how documents are served in any other country. However, there are particular challenges that are involved in serving papers south of the border, for instance.

Language, although English is widely spoken, Spanish is still the country's primary language, and so it will be necessary in most cases to be able to get around Mexico.

If the defendant to be serve has skip town or does not live at the address on file, the resources for tracing an individual in Mexico are rather limited, so it is important to have as much alternative information about the individual's family as possible, in this way you may have additional places to look for, and find his

or her whereabouts.

Usually an affidavit of service must be notarized, and so you will need to visit a U.S. Consular office in Mexico. Notarization by a Mexican notary is possible, but rather time consuming, expensive and not always a sure shot. That is because, even if the affidavit is translated to Spanish, if the notary does not understand the purpose of the document, he or she will not notarize it.

An alternative option is to use a private investigations company in Mexico to serve the documents for you.

Answer 3

You would need a complaint or petition for divorce, a summons, and any applicable mandatory disclosures or standing orders required by the particular jurisdiction.