How Service of Process Reaches Your Delaware Entity

When a Delaware LLC or corporation gets sued, the plaintiff doesn't email you or call your office — a process server, sheriff, or courier delivers the paperwork directly to whoever is on file as the entity's registered agent. That delivery is service of process, and it's what legally starts the clock on the case.

Why Delaware Builds This Around the Agent, Not You

Delaware law requires every LLC, corporation, LP, and statutory trust to keep a registered agent on file with an in-state address for exactly this reason: courts and litigants need one fixed, reliable place to deliver legal papers. With over 1.9 million entities on file and most of them run from somewhere other than Delaware, the registered agent is often the only physical foothold the state or a court has for reaching a given business.

What Shows Up as Service of Process

• Summons and complaints starting a new lawsuit
• Subpoenas for testimony, records, or depositions
• Garnishment notices and writs of execution
• Injunctions, restraining orders, and other court orders
• Notices tied to an already-open case

Delaware Chancery Court in particular moves faster than most civil courts — expedited proceedings are routine there — so the response windows attached to these documents can be short. Miss one and a judge can rule against your entity by default, without ever hearing your position.

What Happens the Day It Arrives at Our Office

1. Someone on our team signs for the delivery during business hours — we don't miss the knock.
2. The document gets scanned in full before the day is out.
3. You get an email the moment the scan is ready, so counsel can be looped in right away.
4. The scan is filed permanently in your online portal alongside everything else we've handled for you.
5. The paper original stays with us; mailing it to you physically is available as an optional per-piece charge, not something bundled into the annual fee.

Scanning and portal delivery of service of process has no cap and no extra charge — it's part of the $99/year plan no matter how many times it happens in a year.

The Cost of an Unreliable Agent

If nobody's reliably at the registered address to accept service:

• Default judgment can be entered against your entity if the response deadline passes with no filing.
• Reopening a default judgment afterward usually means retaining an attorney to petition the court — with no guarantee it succeeds.
• Collections exposure follows quickly, since a default judgment can support bank levies or liens before you've had a chance to respond.

Not the Same as Routine State Mail

Service of process is a distinct category from Division of Corporations notices, franchise tax bills, and annual report reminders. Those routine government mailings fall under a separate allowance — the first three each year are scanned and delivered at no charge, with a per-piece fee after that. Service of process itself isn't subject to that cap: every legal delivery gets scanned and made available to you digitally, every time, at no additional cost.

Why Businesses Route This Through Us Instead of Handling It Themselves

Acting as your own agent means your address is searchable in Delaware's public entity records, and you must be present in-state during business hours to accept delivery personally — a hard requirement for out-of-state owners and an unwelcome one for anyone who'd rather not have a process server show up unannounced. We absorb that exposure and staff for it every business day.

Get Started — $99/year

Not Legal Advice

This page describes how service of process generally works in Delaware and how we handle it as your registered agent — it isn't legal advice. If you've been served and need help with deadlines or a response, talk to a Delaware-licensed attorney. Our role is limited to the registered agent function.