They served him papers on $1500?. My uncle stopped paying Discover, BofA for a total of $67K on CC balances back in 2008 and was never taken to court 
or served papers
or served papers
my disco is $1,500 limit. I missed payments in May and June. I am maxed due to medical issues, But prior to this ive had 100% perfect payments since 2012 when I started getting credit cards. When I logged into my account they had a link to click to some sort of payment plan i could set up. It asked me how much I could pay and when I selected the payment and clicked next it gave me an 12 months payment assistance plan option. It suspended my account for the duration and also lower my APR to 5.99% for the duration also. These things arent heavily advertised but if he has an problem maybe his best bet would be to log in and see if they offer him the same thing they did me or to contact disco and explain his situation and if there are options. Im no expert on this, Just saying my own experience I hope everything goes well for him.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
It sounds like a summons and that Discover has filed with the court for payment. Since it sounds like he has ignored other efforts by Discover to get his attention, they had him served. This is something he does not want to blow off. If he does not either attempt to work something out with Discover directly, if that is still an option, or work something out in court, Discover will get a default judgement. That means that they will then be able to attach wages or seize assets and it will be on his credit report, at a minimum, for seven years.
This is not a problem that will go away if he ignores it. Good luck to both of you.
@CreditCuriousity wrote:I doubt they would serve him papers for $1500.. Be curious to know what it really is for and what they say.
+1
I've honestly not heard of anyone being served papers over this low of an amount in years... as in, the '90s. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, though.
OP, there are steps you can take to minimize the damage from a possible civil suit, but you'll need to act quickly. If you/he wants to avoid a judgement it still might be possible but I cannot stress that the clock is really ticking... I'm not sure if it's the same from state-to-state but in my state, if you leave the papers un-answered, it will automatically be a default judgement (there should be a reply-by deadline listed). If you 'answer' the papers that sets the whole court scenario into effect, at which time he would need to physically appear, but that's not the reason for answering the papers - you "answer" to get more time to resolve the issue before the judgement is determined either way.
Again, you'll want to check with an attorney in your local area, but that's basically how the process works in my state.
All that being said, if you haven't already ask your son if you can look over his papers yourself. It should clearly state on there the party who is bringing the suit, or at a minimum their attorney's name and number will be listed.
Good luck however you decide to move forward. 
So OP, the burning question would be have you verified what the papers were for and what they said? Unless I missed it, you did not update with that info yet.
