Don’t forget the SEPA, or Court say Noooooo!
Don’t forget what? What’s a SEPA? Well people, if you’re heading interstate to serve someone, listen up because this is for you!
When you’ve filed your nice crisp new claim in the Magistrates Court, Local Court, District Court or pretty much any state based Court or Tribunal, there’s an extra bit you need to do, if the defendant/respondent has skipped the state.
Spoiler alert for Federal matters like Divorce and Family Law, you don’t need to do this, so feel free to browse Facebook or something while the rest of us are reading!
Anyway, back to what I was saying….. SEPA or by its official name The Service and Execution of Process Act 1992 is what gives your claim all the same grunt as if in its home state, when you send it out on a road trip. Got to say, it’s a truly fabulous read if you’re a chronic sufferer of insomnia. That said, like the nutrition panel on your cereal box, what it lacks in gripping read, is made up in importance, that will give you that happy regular feeling of a job well done.
To save you the whole read (unless that’s……. ‘your thing’), I’ll skip to the important bit. Going cross border with a state filed document, means you have to add a SEPA form to front of your document, or the Court where you filed it will reject your service of the matter. Most times, this is pretty simple, for just about every claim (debt matters mostly) you add a SEPA Form 1 (Notice to Defendant). These are nearly always available on the Court’s own website.
Beware though, if you’re getting a little more down the track in your matter and you’re going interstate to subpoena a witness, you may even need to use the next one…. get ready for it… it’s the ‘Form 2 – Notice to Witness’.
Best I can say, just remember to ask your friendly Court Services Officer if you’ve got to go interstate and they’ll point you to the right form. See you next time!
PS… I know you can’t wait to get your hands on a SEPA Form for your matter. Here’s an example form. Remember the forms are unique to each Court or Tribunal and will sometimes need some minor customisation before attaching to your Claim. This one is the Form 1 – Notice to Respondent, for Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
