NYC Court Ruling: Legal Notices Can Be Served via Facebook

The judge acknowledged being the first to make this determination in the United States

You've been served! On Facebook (WXIA)

(WXIA)-- Avoiding that court summons just got a lot more difficult. A New York City family court ruled serving legal notices can now go social.

A Staten Island man, Noel Biscocho, was trying to modify child support. His ex-wife's address wasn't current. Efforts to text, email, and call were unsuccessful. He couldn't find her, so he couldn't serve her court papers. But she was active on Facebook. Biscocho could see her liking and commenting on photos and posts from mutual friends.

Judge Gregory Gliedman ruled Sept. 12 that, because he first tried all other available means of contact, Biscocho could "send a digital copy of the summons and petition to the respondent via the Facebook account." Gliedman noted in his decision that it was the first such decision in New York or the United States in general.

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