Service in the State of Florida on a Domestic Limited Liability Company

In the world of service of process of a Complaint or other legal document, there is a presumption by many that service of process is the same for every person or entity in Florida. § 48.031, Fla. Stat.  provides that “(s)ervice of original process is made by delivering a copy of it to the person to be served with a copy of the Complaint, petition, or other initial pleading or paper or by leaving the copies at his or her usual place of abode with any person residing therein who is 15 years of age or older and informing the person of their contents. Minors who are or have been married shall be served as provided in this section.” This particular statute is only addressed to individuals, individuals in business, but not companies.  

To properly serve a domestic limited liability company, pursuant to § 48.062, Fla. Stat., service of process must be attempted at least once on the Registered Agent for the limited liability company. If the process server is unable to serve the registered agent at least once, the process may be served on any manager, any member, any person listed publicly by the limited liability company on its latest annual report, or as a last result if service cannot be made on any of the previous individuals, it can be served on the Secretary of State of Florida. It is very important to review the Affidavit of Service of Process when representing a limited liability company, especially when there is a default involved, because appellate courts in Florida have overturned final judgments when it was found that there was a failure to properly serve the entity. See Peaceful Paws Memorial Services, LLC v. Tavares, 368 So.3d 503, 507 (Fla. 3d 2023). Thus, it is very important to review the process of service affidavit and verify that, in fact, the correct service of process was effectuated.