What happens if someone tries to avoid being served with a TRO?
Question Details:
Our TRO against a couple was only served to one person and the other one is avoiding service by lying to the police. What will happen if he will never be served? Our hearing will be in 3 days. What will happen if both of them don't show up at the hearing?
The temporary restraining order is only effective against the person who was served. Until the other person is served, he can claim he did not have proper notice of it since there wasn't any service of process.
If the person who was served does not show up at the hearing, the judge will issue a bench warrant for her arrest.
As for serving the other person, you might want to consider having a private process server do a stake-out in order to locate and serve the person. There may be some notice requirements which vary from state to state requiring service to be completed a certain number of days before the hearing. It may be too late at this point to have the other person served prior to your hearing. If at the hearing, the judge gives you additional time to serve the other person, then proceed with the private process server. You can find process servers in the Yellow Pages or online listed under attorney services.
