§ 167 Effect of personal appearance

If you get a summons to show up in family court, and you actually show up on the date listed, the court will treat this as proof that you were properly served with the summons. This is true even if there was actually a mistake in how the papers were delivered to you.

The only way around this is to speak up right away. You or someone representing you must object to how the summons was served on that same court date. If you show up but don't raise this objection at that time, you lose the chance to argue later that service was done incorrectly.

In simple terms, showing up to court without complaint about the paperwork process locks in the idea that everything was done right, even if it wasn't. If you think there was a problem with how you were notified about the case, you need to bring it up the moment you appear in court, not after.