Service of Judicial Documents in Belize
Belize is not a signatory to any treaty on international service of process. Therefore, in order to have a valid, enforceable judgment, service of process is best accomplished by means of letters rogatory (or a judicial request). Letters rogatory, which we prepare, must be personally signed by the judge in your case, not the clerk or judicial assistant "for" the judge.  
For us to prepare the documents and facilitate the service, we require the following:
  1. A complete and legible set of the documents to be served. Please make sure if the defendant being served is a "Doe" entity that they are named in an Alias Summons;
  2. Complete, full name of the judge in your case who will be signing the request, plus the name, address, and phone number of the originating (trial) court;
  3. Full name, address, and phone number of the entity to be served;
  4. Name, address and phone number of the plaintiff for whom service is being requested;
  5. Full name, address and phone number of the specific attorney to act as counsel contact;
  6. A Cashier's cheque in the amount of $650 made payable to "U.S. Embassy - Belize City" (required by the U.S. State Department to be applied toward their costs incurred); and
  7. Our fee in advance and is being quoted prior to accepting the assignment of $565.00.

 

Translation:     The official language is English. However, Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Barib) and Creol are spoken.
Time estimate:     6-8 months minimum and sometimes up to 12 months.
Service fee:     $565 (includes document preparation and all transportation charges).  
Serving legal documents in Belize requires great patience. The U.S. Embassy makes the official request on the Belizean court for issuance of a local summons and then oversees service. This is one of the Embassy's primary duties which keeps them very busy. We can periodically request a status update, but they are usually very diligent about notifying us once a subject has been served. Of course, you will be notified immediately upon any information regarding the serve.

Because effecting service can take so long, we can prepare an Affidavit of Compliance stating that service is in progress, that we are in compliance with all applicable statutes, and when we reasonably expect service to be complete. This can be used to support a Motion to Extend, if necessary, and is provided at no additional cost. In addition, the Belize authorities are not obligated to provide status information about a service and generally do not.

 

Call 1-800 SERVE EM (737-8336) for a free, no-obligation quote.

ALL FEES DUE IN ADVANCE