Odessa Loan Ass'n v. Dyer

Citations

• 25 Del. 457
• 2 Boyce 457
• 81 A. 469
• 1911 Del. LEXIS 66

Syllabus

<p>1. Courts — Jurisdiction of Subject-Matter — Assent of Parties.</p> <p>Jurisdiction over the subject-matter cannot be conferred by assent of the parties, but must be given by law.</p> <p>2. Courts — Jurisdiction—Jurisdiction of Person.</p> <p>The jurisdiction of a court over the person or property of a party is acquired by process served in the statutory manner, and the legality of the service is dependent on the statute, and not on any agreement by the parties.</p> <p>3. Appearance — Waiver of Objections — Service.</p> <p>The constitutional guaranty that no valid proceeding can be had against one until he has been notified thereof by proper service of process is for his protection, and a party may voluntarily waive it by voluntary appearance and submission to the court’s jurisdiction; but where he appears, not voluntarily, but in response to service of process, the service must be legal to make the proceeding legal.</p> <p>4. Process — Service—Statutes.</p> <p>The statute defining legal service of process, by prescribing with particularity the methods by which service may be made, does not authorize service on or acceptance of service by the attorney of a defendant, for such service is on an agent, and is good only when made so by statute.</p>