How to Fill Out and File the NJ Proof of Service Form

The New Jersey proof of service form, formally called the Certification of Service, is a short document you file with any court paper submitted after the initial complaint to show that every other party received a copy. New Jersey Court Rule 1:5-3 requires it, and the certification must list the name and address of each attorney or self-represented party you served.¹ Without it, a judge has no reason to act on your filing.

Where to Get the Right Version

The New Jersey Judiciary posts downloadable Certification of Service forms at njcourts.gov, and different divisions use slightly different versions. Form CN 12908 is the appellate version included in the Supreme Court’s guide for self-represented litigants.² The Superior Court, Civil Division uses its own version with the same basic layout: caption block, a space to describe the documents served, recipient information, delivery method checkboxes, and a signature line.³ The Judiciary’s motion response kit for the Civil Part includes a Certification of Service in the packet.⁴ Pick the version that matches the court where your case is pending.

Serve the Papers First

The certification describes service you have already completed, so you have to deliver the papers correctly before you can honestly sign anything. Rule 1:5-2 splits the rules by recipient.

Serving an Attorney

When the other party has a lawyer, you serve the lawyer, not the party. You may mail a copy to the attorney’s office by ordinary first-class mail, hand it to the attorney, or leave it at the office with someone who works there.⁵ Ordinary mail is the usual choice and is fully acceptable.

Serving a Self-Represented Party

If the other side has no lawyer, Rule 1:5-2 requires registered or certified mail with a return receipt requested, plus a simultaneous copy sent by ordinary mail to the same last known address.⁵ The ordinary-mail copy is a backup: if the certified letter goes unclaimed, the regular mailing still has a chance to reach the person.

eCourts Service

Attorneys and self-represented litigants registered on New Jersey’s eCourts system can file and serve electronically, and eCourts has replaced the older JEFIS platform. Parties who are not registered still have to be served by mail or by hand.

Filling Out Each Section

The form is short. Every field matters, and a blank or a typo can delay your filing.

Caption and Docket Number

Copy the case caption exactly as it appears on an earlier court paper: court name, county, and full names of all plaintiffs and defendants. Enter the docket number the same way. The Supreme Court version has separate fields for the Supreme Court docket number and the Appellate Division docket number.² Copying from a prior filing is safer than retyping.

Documents Served

List every paper by its actual title, such as “Certification in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment” or “Case Information Statement.” Avoid vague phrases like “motion papers.” The Civil Division form also asks you to state that you filed the originals with the Clerk of the Superior Court and to give the court’s name and address.³

Recipient Information

Rule 1:5-3 requires the name and address of each attorney served and, for each attorney, the name of the party that attorney represents.¹ If a party has no lawyer, list that party’s own name and address. The Supreme Court form breaks the address into separate fields for name, street, city, state, and zip.² List every opposing party, not just one.

Date and Delivery Method

Enter the date you actually served the papers, not the date you are filling out the form (unless they match). Check the box for the delivery method you used. The Supreme Court form offers hand delivery, regular mail, registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, and an “other” option.² You can check more than one box when you used multiple methods.

Signature

Sign in original ink. The language above the signature reads: “I certify that the foregoing statements made by me are true. I am aware that if any of the foregoing statements made by me are willfully false, I am subject to punishment.”² That warning has teeth. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:28-3, a knowingly false certification on a form that warns of punishment is a fourth-degree crime.⁶

Filing the Certification with the Court

The certification is not a standalone filing. It travels with whatever paper you are submitting: the motion, brief, or response it proves you served. Submit it to the Clerk’s office in the county where your case is pending. Attorneys and many self-represented litigants upload the packet through eCourts, which timestamps the submission. If you file by mail, put the signed certification in the same envelope as the paper it accompanies.

The clerk places the certification in the permanent case file. Keep a copy. If the other side later says they never received your papers, that filed certification is your evidence.

Motion Deadlines the Certification Has to Prove

The date on your certification is what the judge uses to check whether you served on time. The Judiciary’s Civil Part motion response kit instructs that opposition papers must be served no later than eight days before the motion’s return date, and the deadline extends to ten days before the return date if you are opposing a summary judgment motion.⁴ Miss the deadline and the court can strike or ignore your filing. Check the return date on the notice of motion, then count backward to confirm you are within the window.

When You Cannot Locate the Other Party

If a party has moved or disappeared, Rule 1:5-2 lets you satisfy the service requirement by filing the papers with the clerk, but only after a diligent effort to find an address, and your proof of service has to spell out the specific facts of the search.⁵

The Judiciary’s Certification of Diligent Search form lists the steps a court expects: letters to the person’s relatives and last known employer by both regular and certified mail, a driver history abstract request to the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission, a military status check with the U.S. Department of Defense, and a forwarding-address inquiry to the U.S. Postal Service. Copies of every inquiry letter and any responses have to be filed with the certification.⁷ If a diligent inquiry was filed within the last six months and nothing has changed, you can rely on that earlier filing.⁵

Common Mistakes

Most errors on the certification come from rushing. The frequent one is serving a represented party directly instead of the attorney; once someone has counsel, papers go to counsel. Others include checking the wrong delivery method, leaving the date of service blank, and letting the checked method conflict with the postmark on the envelope. Clerks and judges do read these forms.

Mailing to a P.O. box is allowed under Rule 1:5-2 only when you cannot determine a street address through a diligent effort, or when the post office does not deliver to the recipient’s street address.⁵ If you use one, be ready to explain why in the proof of service.

One boundary worth flagging: this form covers papers filed after the initial complaint. The original complaint and summons follow a stricter set of service rules under Rule 4:4, and the Certification of Service is not the right proof for that initial service.

1
New Jersey Judiciary. Notice to the Bar – Proof of Service Rule 1:5-3
2
New Jersey Judiciary. A Guide to Filing for Litigants without Lawyers
3
Camden County Library. New Jersey Certification of Service Form
4
New Jersey Judiciary. How to File a Response to a Motion in the Superior Court of New Jersey – Law Division – Civil Part
5
Court Caddy. Rule 1:5 – Service and Filing of Papers
6
New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 2C:28-3 – Unsworn Falsification to Authorities
7
New Jersey Courts. Certification of Diligent Search