Certificate of Service

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

State of North Carolina

IMPORTANT NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE: All 100 North Carolina counties are live on the NC eCourts (Odyssey) electronic filing system as of October 2025. Under the amended N.C. R. Civ. P. 5, electronic service through eCourts is the default and required method of service when the system is available. A separate written certificate of service is recommended even when service is recorded through eCourts. Self-represented (pro se) parties are not required to use eCourts and must be served by alternate methods.

PART I: COURT CAPTION

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

COUNTY OF [________________________________]

In the General Court of Justice

☐ Superior Court Division ☐ District Court Division

File No.: [________________________________]

[________________________________],
Plaintiff(s),

v.

[________________________________],
Defendant(s).

PART II: IDENTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS SERVED

The undersigned certifies that on [__/__/____], the following document(s) were served upon the parties identified in Part III below:

1. [________________________________]
2. [________________________________]
3. [________________________________]
4. [________________________________]
5. [________________________________]

(Attach additional sheet if more documents were served.)

PART III: PARTIES SERVED

Served Party / Attorney No. 1

Name: [________________________________]
Role: ☐ Attorney for Plaintiff ☐ Attorney for Defendant ☐ Self-Represented Party ☐ Other: [____________]
Representing: [________________________________]
Firm/Organization: [________________________________]
Street Address: [________________________________]
City, State, ZIP: [________________________________]
Mailing Address (if different): [________________________________]
Email Address of Record: [________________________________]
NC State Bar Number (if attorney): [________________________________]
Phone: [________________________________]

Method of Service — Party / Attorney No. 1 (check all that apply):

☐ Electronic Service via NC eCourts (Odyssey) [PREFERRED]
Filed and served through the NC eCourts (Odyssey) system pursuant to N.C. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(a).
Service is effective upon filing/transmission. No additional days added to response deadlines.
eCourts Transaction/Confirmation Number: [________________________________]
Date/Time of Transmission: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

☐ Email Service (when eCourts unavailable or party has no eCourts registration)
Served by email pursuant to N.C. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(b).
Email address used: [________________________________]
Date sent: [__/__/____] Time sent: [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m. Eastern Time
(Email must be sent by 5:00 p.m. on a regular business day. If sent after 5:00 p.m. or on a weekend/holiday, service is deemed effective the next business day. +3 days added to response deadlines per N.C. R. Civ. P. 6(e).)

☐ First-Class Mail, Postage Prepaid
Served by depositing in the United States mail, postage prepaid, pursuant to N.C. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(c).
Mailed to: [________________________________]
Date deposited: [__/__/____] City of mailing: [________________________________]
(+3 days added to response deadlines per N.C. R. Civ. P. 6(e).)

☐ Overnight Delivery / Commercial Carrier
Carrier name: [________________________________]
Tracking number: [________________________________]
Date of deposit with carrier: [__/__/____]
Delivery requested: ☐ Next business day ☐ Second business day
(+3 days added to response deadlines per N.C. R. Civ. P. 6(e).)

☐ Personal Delivery to Attorney at Office
Delivered in person at the attorney's office address listed above.
Date of delivery: [__/__/____] Time: [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.
Received by: [________________________________]
(Effective date of service: date of delivery. No additional days added.)

☐ Personal Delivery to Self-Represented Party
Delivered in person to the self-represented party at:
[________________________________]
Date: [__/__/____] Time: [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.
(Self-represented parties may not have eCourts accounts and must be served by physical means.)

☐ Leaving at Office
Left with: [________________________________] (person in charge / clerk)
At: [________________________________] (office address)
Date: [__/__/____]

☐ Facsimile (requires prior written consent or court order)
Fax number: [____________________]
Date/time transmitted: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.
Confirmation number: [________________________________]
Written consent on file: ☐ Yes ☐ Court Order dated [__/__/____]
(+3 days added to response deadlines per N.C. R. Civ. P. 6(e).)

Served Party / Attorney No. 2

Name: [________________________________]
Role: ☐ Attorney for Plaintiff ☐ Attorney for Defendant ☐ Self-Represented Party ☐ Other: [____________]
Representing: [________________________________]
Firm/Organization: [________________________________]
Street Address: [________________________________]
City, State, ZIP: [________________________________]
Email Address of Record: [________________________________]
NC State Bar Number (if attorney): [________________________________]

Method of Service — Party / Attorney No. 2 (check all that apply):

☐ Electronic Service via NC eCourts (Odyssey)
Transaction/Confirmation Number: [________________________________]
Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

☐ Email Service
Email address used: [________________________________]
Date/Time sent: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

☐ First-Class Mail
Mailed to: [________________________________]
Date deposited: [__/__/____] City: [________________________________]

☐ Overnight Delivery
Carrier: [________________________________] Tracking: [________________________________]

☐ Personal Delivery to Attorney at Office
Date: [__/__/____] Received by: [________________________________]

☐ Personal Delivery to Self-Represented Party
Address: [________________________________] Date: [__/__/____]

☐ Facsimile — Fax: [____________________] Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

Served Party / Attorney No. 3

Name: [________________________________]
Role: ☐ Attorney for Plaintiff ☐ Attorney for Defendant ☐ Self-Represented Party ☐ Other: [____________]
Representing: [________________________________]
Street Address / Email: [________________________________]

Method of Service — Party / Attorney No. 3 (check all that apply):

☐ Electronic Service via NC eCourts (Odyssey) — Transaction No.: [________________________________]
☐ Email Service — Email: [________________________________] Time: [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.
☐ First-Class Mail — Mailed: [__/__/____] City: [________________________________]
☐ Overnight Delivery — Carrier: [________________] Tracking: [________________]
☐ Personal Delivery — Date: [__/__/____] Received by: [________________________________]
☐ Facsimile — Fax: [____________________] Date/Time: [__/__/____]

(Attach additional party service pages as needed.)

PART IV: NORTH CAROLINA SERVICE RULES AND TIME EXTENSION REFERENCE

Mail/Email Extension Rule — N.C. R. Civ. P. 6(e)

When a party must act within a prescribed period after service, and service is made by any method other than personal delivery or eCourts electronic service, 3 additional calendar days are added to the response period.

NC eCourts (Odyssey) — Electronic Filing and Service

• All attorneys in NC must register with NC eCourts and maintain a current email address of record.
• eCourts service is automatic upon electronic filing — all registered case participants are notified.
• Documents filed after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time are deemed filed the following business day.
• Self-represented parties are not required to register with eCourts and must be served by non-electronic means unless they have voluntarily registered and consented.
• When eCourts experiences a documented technical outage, email service to the email address of record with the court is the authorized fallback method under N.C. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(b).
• Retain all eCourts transaction numbers and confirmation receipts.

Email Service Requirements — N.C. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(b)

• Email must be sent to the party's/attorney's email address on record with the court in the case.
• Email service is effective only if sent at or before 5:00 p.m. on a regular business day.
• Emails sent after 5:00 p.m. or on weekends/holidays are deemed effective the next business day.
• Email service is a secondary method (used when eCourts is unavailable), not the primary method.

Service on Self-Represented (Pro Se) Parties

• Self-represented parties who are not registered eCourts users must be served by personal delivery, leaving documents at their residence or office, first-class mail, or another method to which they have agreed.
• Do not serve self-represented parties solely through eCourts unless they have registered and consented.
• Document the method of service carefully for pro se parties to avoid disputes.

PART V: PROOF OF SERVICE BY MAIL — DECLARATION

(Complete this section when service was made in whole or in part by first-class U.S. mail.)

I, [________________________________], declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of North Carolina that the following is true and correct:

I am over the age of 18 years and I am not a party to this action. My business/residential address is:

[________________________________]
[________________________________]

On [__/__/____], I served the documents identified in Part II above by enclosing a true and correct copy of each document in a sealed envelope, with postage fully prepaid, and depositing the envelope(s) in the United States mail, addressed as follows:

Mail Recipient 1:
Name: [________________________________]
Address: [________________________________]
[________________________________]

Mail Recipient 2:
Name: [________________________________]
Address: [________________________________]
[________________________________]

Mail Recipient 3:
Name: [________________________________]
Address: [________________________________]
[________________________________]

Place of deposit (U.S. Post Office / mail drop location):
[________________________________], North Carolina

Date of deposit: [__/__/____]
Approximate time of deposit: [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on [__/__/____] at [________________________________], North Carolina.

Signature: [________________________________]
Printed Name: [________________________________]
Title/Capacity: [________________________________]

PART VI: PROOF OF ELECTRONIC SERVICE — DECLARATION

(Complete this section when service was made through NC eCourts or by email.)

I, [________________________________], declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of North Carolina that the following is true and correct:

I am over the age of 18 years. My business/residential address is:

[________________________________]
[________________________________]

A. Service via NC eCourts (Odyssey)

☐ On [__/__/____], at approximately [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m. Eastern Time, I electronically filed the documents identified in Part II through the NC eCourts (Odyssey) system. Upon filing, the system automatically served all registered parties. eCourts generated the following confirmation:

Transaction/Confirmation Number: [________________________________]
Date/Time of System Confirmation: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

Parties notified through eCourts:

1. [________________________________]
2. [________________________________]
3. [________________________________]

B. Service via Email (Fallback Method)

☐ On [__/__/____], at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m. Eastern Time, I served the documents identified in Part II by sending a true and correct copy of each document as an email attachment to the following email addresses of record:

1. [________________________________] (email address) — for [________________________________] (party/attorney name)
2. [________________________________] (email address) — for [________________________________] (party/attorney name)

Email sent from address: [________________________________]

Reason NC eCourts was not used:
☐ eCourts was experiencing a documented technical outage
☐ The recipient is a self-represented party not registered in eCourts
☐ Other: [________________________________]

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on [__/__/____] at [________________________________], North Carolina.

Signature: [________________________________]
Printed Name: [________________________________]

PART VII: CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE — SIGNATURE BLOCK

This Certificate of Service is filed pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 5.

Date: [__/__/____]

Respectfully submitted,

Signature: [________________________________]

Printed Name: [________________________________]
NC State Bar Number: [________________________________]
Firm Name: [________________________________]
Street Address: [________________________________]
City, State, ZIP: [________________________________]
Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Facsimile: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Email: [________________________________]
Attorney for: ☐ Plaintiff ☐ Defendant ☐ [________________________________]

PART VIII: COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST

☐ All documents served are clearly listed in Part II
☐ Every party to the action has been served or their attorney has been served
☐ Correct service method(s) selected for each party
☐ Self-represented parties served by non-electronic means (unless eCourts-registered)
☐ Email service sent at or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on a business day
☐ eCourts transaction/confirmation number recorded
☐ +3 day response extension noted in case calendar for mail/email/carrier service
☐ Proof of service declaration completed and signed under penalty of perjury
☐ Certificate of service filed with the court (or recorded automatically through eCourts)
☐ Hard copy retained in case file
☐ eCourts confirmation emails saved to file

PART IX: ORIGINAL PROCESS — REFERENCE NOTE

(For reference only — original process is governed by N.C. R. Civ. P. 4, not Rule 5.)

Service of original process (summons and complaint) must be made by personal service, certified mail (return receipt requested), or publication as specified in N.C. R. Civ. P. 4. Original process CANNOT be served through eCourts or by email. Service on a corporation must be made on an officer, director, managing or general agent, or registered agent. N.C. R. Civ. P. 4(j)(6). Service by publication requires a court order. N.C. R. Civ. P. 4(j1). The statute of limitations is tolled upon filing the complaint, but service must be perfected within 60 days unless the court extends the time. N.C. R. Civ. P. 4(c).

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• N.C. R. Civ. P. 5 (full text): https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_1a/gs_1a-1,_rule_5.html
• NC General Court Rules of Practice: https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/inline-files/General-Rules-of-Practice-for-the-Superior-and-District-Courts-Codified-13-February-2023.pdf
• Ward and Smith — Rule 5 and Odyssey eCourts: https://www.wardandsmith.com/article/odyssey-and-e-mail-service-under-the-new-and-improved-nc-rule-5
• Bell Davis Pitt — NC eCourts Shakeup: https://www.belldavispitt.com/blog-post/serving-documents-in-north-carolina-state-court-the-ecourts-shakeup
• NC Courts eCourts Portal: https://www.nccourts.gov