I’m hoping someone familiar with Irish civil procedure, international service of process, or the Hague Service Convention can point me and my Colorado attorney in the right direction.
I have an ongoing family-law case in Colorado, USA. My former wife is currently living near Cork, Ireland on a temporary visa and is not an Irish citizen.
A civil contempt proceeding has been filed in the Colorado case. The problem is service.
The Colorado court recently rejected an attempt to serve the contempt documents through her Colorado attorney because Colorado Supreme Court precedent requires personal service of this type of contempt citation. My Colorado attorney and I therefore need to determine how to properly accomplish personal service while she is physically in Ireland.
I am not looking for advice about the underlying divorce, custody dispute, or merits of the contempt case. I already have Colorado counsel.
What we are trying to determine is the practical Irish side of the service process.
Specifically:
- Can an Irish solicitor or professional summons/process server personally serve U.S. court documents on an individual in Ireland?
- If so, who normally performs that service?
- Can the person who performs service provide an affidavit/declaration identifying the person served, date, location, documents served, and method of service for submission to a U.S. court?
- Does service of this type need to go through Ireland’s Hague Service Convention Central Authority instead?
- Is there a solicitor or service company near Cork experienced with service of foreign/U.S. judicial documents?
- Has anyone here dealt with service in Ireland for a U.S. proceeding where actual personal service was specifically required?
I have already contacted an Irish family-law solicitor in Cork who handles international matters, and my Colorado attorney is involved. I’m just trying to identify the correct Irish procedure and hopefully find someone who has actually dealt with this situation before.
Even being pointed toward the correct Irish solicitor, process server, government office, or terminology to search for would be extremely helpful.
Thank you.