How to Fill Out and File a Certificate of Service

To fill out a certificate of service, copy the case caption exactly from an earlier filing, identify each document you delivered by its exact title, record the date and method of delivery, list every party or attorney served with their address, and sign the statement under penalty of perjury. The certificate is then filed with the court alongside — or immediately after — the document it describes. The form is short, but small mistakes on the fields below can get a filing struck or a hearing pushed back.

What Information Goes on the Form

The header of the certificate mirrors the case caption on the document you are serving: court name, county or district, case number, and party names.¹ Copy this information from a previously filed paper in the same case. A wrong digit in the case number can send the clerk’s office looking for the wrong file, or cause the filing to be rejected outright.

Below the caption, four pieces of information about the service itself go on the page:

Document title. Identify each paper served using its exact title, such as “Motion to Compel Discovery” or “Answer to Complaint.” If you served more than one document at the same time, list each one.²
Date of service. This is the date you actually handed over, mailed, or transmitted the document. It is not the date you signed the certificate, and it is not the date the court receives the filing.
Method of service. State how delivery happened: hand delivery, first-class mail, certified mail, email, or the court’s electronic-filing system.
Recipients. List every person or entity served by name and address.³

When more than one party is involved, list each one separately with their own address and method. If you mailed to one party and emailed another, the certificate has to show both. Where a party has an attorney of record, serve the attorney rather than the party. If a party has a limited-appearance attorney still active in the case, serve both the party and the attorney.³

Choosing and Recording the Method of Service

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b)(2) lists five permissible methods for serving papers after the initial complaint:⁴

Hand delivery to the person, to someone in charge at their office, or to a person of suitable age and discretion at their home.
U.S. mail to the person’s last known address. Service is complete when you drop the envelope in the mail; you do not wait for delivery.
Leaving the paper with the court clerk if the person has no known address.
Electronic means — the court’s e-filing system for registered users, or email or similar transmission if the recipient consented in writing.
Any other means the recipient agreed to in writing, complete when you hand the paper to the designated delivery agency.

The method you record on the certificate determines the date you write down. For mail, that is the deposit date. For email or other electronic transmission outside the court’s system, it is the date and time you sent it. Note that emailing opposing counsel a motion is not valid service unless that person has already consented in writing — a signed stipulation, a written agreement, or a court-specific consent form.⁴ If you served by email, the certificate should record the address used and the date and time sent.

Signing Under Penalty of Perjury

Only the person who actually performed the service can sign the certificate. That is often the attorney of record or a staff member who handled the mailing, such as a paralegal. If you are representing yourself, you sign it. The signature is a personal statement that everything on the page is true.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury has the same legal effect as a notarized affidavit, provided it includes the required language and a date.⁵ For a certificate signed inside the United States, the standard wording is: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.” Court-issued templates typically already include this line. If you are drafting your own, put it directly above the signature. Notarization is not usually required for a certificate of service, though some jurisdictions and certain case types call for it, so check the local rules of the court where you are filing.

Filing It With the Court

A certificate of service is filed as part of the same package as the document it describes, or immediately after. Federal Rule 5(d)(1) requires that any paper needing service be filed with the court “no later than a reasonable time after service.”⁴ The rule does not put a specific number of days on that phrase. In practice, filing on the same day you served the document — or within a day or two — is the safe approach. Waiting invites the other side to challenge the filing.

In a court using CM/ECF or another electronic-filing system, the certificate is uploaded as part of the same submission. Where paper filing is still accepted, the signed original goes to the clerk’s window and comes back stamped. Keep the stamped copy or the electronic confirmation receipt as proof.

One exception matters. Federal Rule 5(d)(1)(B) provides that no certificate of service is required for a paper served by filing it through the court’s electronic-filing system, because the system generates its own notice of electronic filing to every registered user.⁴ If any party is served outside that system — a pro se litigant who receives paper copies by mail, for instance — a certificate is still needed for that party.

Certificate of Service vs. Proof of Service

A certificate of service is not the same document as a proof of service, and using the wrong one can hurt a case. A certificate of service covers papers filed after the lawsuit is already underway: motions, discovery, briefs, and similar filings. The person who mailed or transmitted the document signs it, and it is attached to the filing.

A proof of service — sometimes called an affidavit of service or return of service — covers the initial service of process, meaning the summons and complaint that formally notify a defendant of the lawsuit. Initial service has stricter requirements: it usually must be performed by someone who is not a party to the case, often a professional process server or a sheriff’s deputy, following specific personal-delivery rules.⁶ Filing a simple certificate where the court expects a proof of service on the original complaint can lead to the case being dismissed.

What Happens If You Get It Wrong

A certificate with an honest mistake — a wrong address, a missing party, no signature — can cause the associated filing to be struck or a hearing to be postponed until proper service is completed. Federal Rule 11(a) requires that an unsigned paper be stricken unless the omission is promptly corrected.⁷ Your motion sits until the certificate is fixed and refiled.

Deliberately falsifying a certificate is a different problem. Because the signer declares the contents true under penalty of perjury, a false certificate can support criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1621, which carries a fine and up to five years in prison.⁸ Courts may also impose Rule 11 sanctions, including monetary penalties, attorney’s fee awards to the opposing party, and nonmonetary directives calibrated to deter the conduct.⁷ For attorneys, a false certificate can trigger state bar discipline as well. Double-check every name, address, and date before signing.

1
Utah Courts. Certificate of Service Court Form
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U.S. Department of Labor. Sample OALJ Certificate of Service With Instructions
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The Maryland People’s Law Library. Service and Certificates of Service
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Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
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New York State Unified Court System. How to Serve Papers When Commencing an Action or Proceeding
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Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1621 – Perjury Generally