How to Find Someone's Address (Legally)
Ask first: a mutual contact or the person's employer will often forward a letter. If they own their home, property records list the owner. In the UK, directory sites use the open electoral register. If you need the address to serve court papers, a process server or your lawyer has tools you don't, and courts can allow another way to serve if the person can't be found.
Why the reason matters
An address is the one piece of personal information people most want to protect, and the law in all three countries reflects that. Sending a wedding invitation, serving legal papers and returning lost property are all reasonable. Turning up uninvited at someone's door is not, and in many places repeated unwanted contact is harassment.
Free methods, step by step
- Ask someone who can forward a letter. Seal your letter, put a stamp on it and send it to a mutual friend, a relative or the person's employer with a note asking them to forward it. The person's address stays private, and you still get your message through.
- Search property records by owner name (US). On the county assessor's website, choose Owner name search, enter
LAST FIRSTas the site asks, and open the matching parcel. You'll see the owner of record and often a tax-bill mailing address. It covers only one county, so you have to know roughly where they live. Details are in our property guide. - Check company registers for directors. On Companies House, type the person's name into Enter company name, number or officer name and open the Officers results. You'll see a correspondence address, which is often a business address rather than a home. Corporations Canada's federal search lists directors' addresses for federal corporations.
- Look at court and public notices. Probate notices, published court lists and obituaries sometimes name a town or a street.
- Use the listed directory. Canada411 searches listed numbers and addresses from phone directories; unlisted and mobile numbers aren't there. In the UK, directory sites draw on the open register, so a missing entry means nothing.
Example walkthrough
Sending a wedding invitation to an old friend
Illustrative example. The names, numbers and details are invented placeholders, not a real person or case.
You want to invite "Alex Sample", who moved somewhere in Oregon five years ago. A mutual friend has an email address for Alex's sister, so you email her, explain, and ask whether she'd forward the invitation or pass on your number. Two days later Alex texts you an address. This is the whole method most of the time. The record searches above are for when no one in common can help.
If you need to serve court papers
Courts expect you to try reasonable steps. If those fail, you can usually ask the court for permission to serve another way, for example by email, by post to a last known address, or by notice. A licensed process server or your lawyer will know the local rules and can often trace a person more effectively. In the US, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act lets DMV records be used in connection with court proceedings, including service of process (18 U.S.C. § 2721(b)(4)). That's a route for the people serving the papers, not a public lookup.
Country notes
United States
Property records and many court records are public. Voter records vary a lot by state: some sell them, some restrict them. People-search sites compile these sources.
Canada
PIPEDA limits how businesses share personal information, so you won't find the same volume of broker data. Land registries are provincial.
United Kingdom
The full electoral register isn't sold. The open register is, and people can opt out of it at any time.
Common dead ends, and why they fail
- Asking the post office. Postal services protect forwarding details, so don't expect them to tell you where someone moved. For a legal matter, ask the court clerk what's allowed.
- Renters in property records. Land and assessor records show owners. A tenant, or someone living in a family member's home, won't appear.
- Old directory and people-search addresses. These are often years out of date. Treat them as places the person once lived.
- Company addresses. Directors can use a service address, so the address on a company record may be an accountant's office.
What if nothing works
- Send your message through someone else: social media, a mutual contact or an employer.
- If it's legal, such as a claim, a debt or a divorce, tell the court you couldn't find them. Courts can allow another way to serve, for example by email or by post to a last known address. A lawyer or a process server knows the local rules.
- If you're worried about someone, ask the police for a welfare check.
Using an address for screening
Screening a tenant, employee or borrower in the US falls under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so use an FCRA-compliant screening company with the person's consent; why people-search sites are the wrong tool.
What people search for on this topic
"Free" and "by their name" dominate. The more telling suggestions are legal ones: "to serve them", "for small claims court", "legally", and, on Bing, "forwarding address" and "forwarding address usps". A real share of this demand comes from people with a court matter, not curiosity.
The "can you find someone's address..." suggestions show what people hope works: a licence plate (several variants), a phone number, an IP address, even Cash App. Most of those don't work for the public, and a guide that says so plainly answers the question.
Canada-flavoured suggestions are place-specific (Ontario, Calgary, Toronto, BC); UK ones include "uk for free" and the electoral roll.
Google's top suggestions for how to find someone's address (US, captured October 12, 2026):
- how to find someone's address with their name for free
- how to find someone's address for free
- how to find someone's address by their name
- how to find someone's address online
- how to find someone's address to serve them
Autocomplete shows what people commonly type, not how many. There are no search volumes here. The method and the full capture are on our search demand page.
FAQ
Can I find someone's address with just their name?
Only if the name is unusual or you add another detail. Property records and directories search by name, but common names return many people.
Can I find someone's address from their phone number?
Not reliably. Directories only cover listed landlines, and mobile numbers aren't in any public directory.
Will the post office give me someone's new address?
Don't count on it. Postal services protect forwarding details. For legal matters, ask the court clerk or a process server what's allowed where you are.
Is it legal to look up someone's address?
Looking up public records is legal. What you do next matters: unwanted contact can amount to harassment.
Can a process server find an address I can't?
Often, yes. Process servers and lawyers have legitimate access to some sources that aren't public, such as US DMV records for court proceedings under the DPPA. That access only exists for serving papers, though, not for passing the address on to you for other reasons.
Do UK directory sites show everyone?
No. They're built from the open electoral register, which anyone can opt out of, and people who aren't registered to vote don't appear at all.
Related guides
Also on Searches.com
Sources
Facts checked October 12, 2026 against the official sources linked on this page. Laws and fees change; check the source before you rely on a detail.