WPC # VU>a % 0(4w@ 0L8 0J 0T 0^" 0h 0r 0|Z 0 0\ 1u U,a 0 U,MU6yB)DC 0N Bi AMU*"v~ D3v 0@ AO2 0D D/< BkHP LaserJet 4Si/4SiMX PS 600dpiPSCRIPT0 <( 9Z &Courier RegularX($D x3|x/ U D!"D#5e$%Ӏ/> $Small Circle0 2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)<  9p`(ModernPp 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X\R\<  9p`(Monaco<  9p`(Courier New% Line 7 d""""7Border 1dd>$"Small Circle"0   d-#C << G<  9p`(Arial  !  #d#!  ''   YYY FILED'XJuly24,1996CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk  PtPt%%%%'dxdStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Monaco   BA Op Monaco  BA Op Monaco ("$    -C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd ! . &  Xd&#  Xd#!   ` X X \RA'\ћ7?Xdd7  ќNOELWALLACE, )  )#` XxX# Plaintiff/Appellee, ) AppealNo.  ) 01A019512CH00579v.  )  ) LawrenceChanceryٜL&(#;+'h|!`  `LߛKENERDPARISWALLACE, ) No.647093  ) Defendant/Appellant. )  !COURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEEMIDDLESECTIONATNASHVILLEAPPEALFROMTHECHANCERYCOURTFORLAWRENCECOUNTYATLAWRENCEBURG,TENNESSEETHEHONORABLEWILLIAMB.CAIN,CHANCELLOR ` XX   !XRANDYHILLHOUSEFreemon,Hillhouse&Huddlestonp.O.Box787Lawrenceburg,Tennessee38464 ATTORNEYFORPLAINTIFF/APPELLEEDAVIDCOMER212WestGainesStreetLawrenceburg,Tennessee38464 ATTORNEYFORDEFENDANT/APPELLANT  REVERSEDANDREMANDED  !SAMUELL.LEWIS,JUDGE  !O!ԀPINION  #` ` X#!X Thisisanappealbydefendant,KenerdParisWallace,fromthetrialcourt'sjudgmentdenyinghismotiontosetasideadivorcedecreeonthegroundthatplaintiff,NoelWallace,didnotproperlyservedefendantasrequiredbyRule4.04(1)oftheTennesseeRulesofCivilProcedure. ThismatterbeganwhenplaintifffiledacomplaintfordivorceagainstdefendantinOctober1993.PlaintiffgaveBobMoore,anindependentprocessor,thesummonsandthecomplainttoserveupondefendant.Mr.Mooreknewdefendant'saddressanddefendant'stwoplacesofemployment.On19November1993,Mr.Moorewenttodefendant'shomeontwooccasions.Defendantwasnotathomeorsimplydidnotanswerthedoor.Mr.Moorereturnedon20November,butonceagaindefendantdidnotanswerthedoororwasnotathome.Mr.Mooresawdifferentautomobilesattheresidenceoneachoccasion.Basedonthisobservation,hesurmisedthatonatleastoneoftheoccasionsdefendantmusthavebeenhomeandthatdefendantwas"evading"process.Asaresultofhisconclusion,Mr.Moorelefttheprocesswithdefendant'sson.Defendant'ssonlaterdeliveredtheprocesstodefendant. Becausedefendantfailedtoanswerthecomplaintfordivorce,thecourtgrantedplaintiffadefaultjudgmentanddividedthemaritalproperty.Thereafter,defendantfailedtocomplywiththecourt'sorder,andplaintifffiledacontemptpetition.Priortothehearingonthecontemptpetition,defendantfiledamotiontosetasidethejudgmentinthedivorceaction.Thecourtdeniedthemotionandfoundthatdefendantwasincontemptofcourt.Defendantfiledatimelynoticeofappealastothedenialofhismotiontosetasidethejudgment. Tennessee'sRulesofCivilProceduredescribetheproperproceduretousewhenservinganindividualpersonallyandwhenpersonalserviceisunsuccessful.Theserulesprovideasfollows:8 (1)Uponthefilingofthecomplainttheclerkofthecourtwhereinthecomplaintisfiledshallforthwithissuetherequiredsummonsandcauseit,withnecessarycopiesofthecomplaintandsummons,tobedeliveredforservicetoanypersonauthorizedtoserveprocess.Thepersonshallservethesummons,andhisreturnindorsedthereonshallbeproofofthetimeandmannerofservice.Asummonsmaybeissuedforserviceinanycountyagainstanydefendant,andseparateoradditionalsummonsesmaybeissuedagainstanydefendantuponrequestofplaintiff.Nothinginthisruleshallaffectexistinglawswithrespecttovenue.8 (2)Asummonsandcomplaintmaybeservedbyanypersonwhoisnotapartyandisnotlessthan18yearsofage.Theprocessservermustbeidentifiedbynameandaddressonthereturn.Tenn.R.Civ.P.4.01(1995).8 Theplaintiffshallfurnishthepersonmakingtheservicewithsuchcopiesofthesummonsandcomplaintasarenecessary.Serviceshallbemadeasfollows:8 (1)Uponanindividualotherthananunmarriedinfantoranincompetentperson,bydeliveringacopyofthesummonsandofthecomplainttotheindividualpersonally,orifheevadesorattemptstoevadeservice,byleavingcopiesthereofattheindividual'sdwellinghouseorusualplaceofabodewithsomepersonofsuitableageanddiscretionthenresidingtherein,whosenameshallappearontheproofofservice,orbydeliveringthecopiestoanagentauthorizedbyappointmentorbylawtoreceiveserviceonbehalfoftheindividualserved. Id. 4.04(1)(emphasisadded).)` `  X)Here,thereisnoevidenceandthetrialcourtdidnotfindthatdefendantevadedorattemptedtoevadeprocess.Thetrialcourtsimplyheldthattherewasactualservicebecausetheprocessserverlefttheprocesswithdefendant'sson,whowasofsuitableageanddiscretion,andbecausedefendant'ssonpassedtheprocessontodefendant.Wedisagree. "Inapplyingandconstruingthesubstituteservicestatutes,itisthedutyoftheCourttogivethestatuteastrictconstructionassuchstatutesareinderogationofcommonrightsandstrictcompliancetherewithmustbeobserved." Taborv.MasonDixonLines ,196Tenn.198,202,264S.W.2d821,82223(1953).Simplybecausethesubjectmatterofthesuitiswithinthejurisdictionofthecourt,properserviceofprocessshouldnotbeassumed.Therecordmustestablishthattheplaintiffcompliedwiththerequisitesoftheproceduralrules.Thefactthatthedefendanthadactualknowledgeofattemptedservicedoesnotrendertheserviceeffectualiftheplaintiffdidnotservetheprocessinaccordancewiththerule. SeeThirdNat'lBankofNashvillev.Estes ,App.No.85142II,1986WL3155,at*5(Tenn.App.12March1986). Serviceofprocesswhichdoesnotmeettherequirementsoftheruleisvoid,andajudgmentbasedonvoidserviceisavoidjudgment. Overbyv.Overby ,224Tenn.523,52526,457S.W.2d851,852(1970).ServiceofprocessmuststrictlycomplytoRule4oftheTennesseeRulesofCivilProcedure. SeeTabor ,264S.W.2dat82223.Nothinginthisrecordshowsthatserviceconformedtotherule.Therefore,thejudgmentisvoid. Itresultsthatthejudgmentofthetrialcourtinrefusingtosetasidetheoriginaldecreeisreversed.Thecauseisremandedtothetrialcourtfortheentryofajudgmentsettingasidetheoriginaldecreeandforfurthernecessaryproceedings.Costsonappealaretaxedtotheplaintiff/appellee,NoelWallace.               __________________________________  SAMUELL.LEWIS,JUDGECONCUR:_________________________________HENRYF.TODD,P.J.,M.S._________________________________BENH.CANTRELL,J.