To respond you must file a formal paper with the court. The paper is called the Answer. You cannot call the Clerk’s office to get extra time to file an answer in a civil case. Only the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney can give you extra time (called an extension). If you are given an extension, you should confirm it in writing in a letter to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney and keep a copy of the confirming letter.
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In preparing a written Answer to the Complaint, certain information must be included so that your Answer will be properly recorded when it is received. Write this information the same way as it appears on the Complaint. You must include: 1. Name of the Court and County 2. Name and address of the person who sued you (Plaintiff) 3.
1. You can defend yourself by filing an Answer to the lawsuit in court. Special forms are used, which you can get from the court. You must file an Answer within 30 days of the date you are personally served with the Summons and Complaint.
Local Forms. Local Forms are forms that are specific only to Yuba County Superior Court. They are adopted as part of the Local Rules of Court. If you do not see the form you are looking for on this page, then your form might be a Judicial Council Form.
The law in California states that if a complaint is verified the answer to the complaint must be verified. Cali fornia law also states that any answer to a complaint filed by a governmental entity must be verified. See Code of Civil Procedure § 446. These rules only apply in unlimited civil cases in which the demand of the complaint exceeds ...
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California law permits unverified complaints unless a specific statute or code provides otherwise, although any complaint may be verified at the option of plaintiff. Civil complaints in California can be either unverified or verified. The law in California states that if a complaint is verified the answer to the complaint must be verified.
Your attorney will also include what are known as affirmative defenses which they will draft specifically for your answer based on your unique circumstances. An experienced litigation attorney will avoid the use of “boilerplate” affirmative defenses as that type of answer may be objected to on the grounds that the answer fails to state facts ...
If you receive a summons and complaint, this typically means that you are being sued by someone. If you fail to answer, the person suing you may be able to get a default judgment against you. This means they get whatever they are asking for in their complaint. To avoid that, you can't ignore the summons and complaint.
The certificate of service form is the same for every case filed in court. On the certificate of service form, write the name and address of the plaintiff (or their attorney) as it appears on your summons. This is where you'll have to deliver a copy of your answer after it's filed.
This article was written by Jennifer Mueller, JD. Jennifer Mueller is an in-house legal expert at wikiHow. Jennifer reviews, fact-checks, and evaluates wikiHow's legal content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. She received her JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006.
Pay the filing fees if necessary. Typically, you don't have to pay any filing fees simply to answer a complaint. However, if you have a counterclaim against the person who is suing you, there may be fees involved. The court clerk will tell you how much the fees are and what method of payment is accepted.
Overview. If you have received a summons and complaint, that probably means you are being sued. Being sued can be one of life’s most stressful experiences. Although it might be tempting to ignore a summons and complaint, ignoring a lawsuit does not make it go away.
However you decide to respond to the lawsuit, remember there are deadlines to take action. Typically, you have twenty calendar days from when you received the summons and complaint (not counting the day of service) to file a response with the court. But that time might be shorter in some cases.
An answer is your opportunity to respond to the complaint’s factual allegations and legal claims. It also allows you to assert "affirmative defenses," facts or legal arguments you raise to defeat plaintiff’s claim. Filing an answer prevents the plaintiff from getting a default judgment against you.
Compulsory counterclaims. If your claim arises out of the same transaction that underlies the plaintiff's claim , you have a “compulsory counterclaim.”. If you do not file a counterclaim in plaintiff’s case, you will lose the right to file a separate lawsuit.
If you do nothing, the plaintiff can – and probably will! – ask the court for a default judgment. You may have other options as well. The best way to evaluate your options is to speak to a lawyer. An attorney might be able to identify defenses that apply to you or even help you settle your case out of court.
File a motion to dismiss or for a more definite statement. There are a number of reasons why you might file a motion to dismiss, including: Lack of jurisdiction. In other words, the court does not have jurisdiction over you. Click to visit Deciding Where to File for more information about jurisdiction.
Learn what to do if you’ve been served with a summons and complaint, including how much time you have to respond and what options might be available to you. Remember that if you do nothing, the person suing you can ask the court for a money judgment against you!
You should respond to each paragraph of the complaint matching your response to the exact number used in the complaint.
You may also desire to include in your answer a copy of a document. Documents can be attached to your answer, made part of your answer and referred to in your answer. Documents are then referred to as "Attachments" or "Exhibits". Copies of all attachments or exhibits are numbered and attached at the end of the Answer.
Sometimes you do not know if the statement in the complaint is true or not or you do not have enough information to determine if the statement is correct. In that case your response should be: "lack enough information to respond".
The Answer is the defendant’s opportunity to admit or deny the specific allegations brought against them in the complaint. Any statements in the complaint that are not denied will be taken as true for the purposes of this case.
If you have a claim that arises out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of events as the plaintiff’s lawsuit, you must file a Cross-Complaint with your Answer. If your Cross-Complaint is not filed before or at the time you file your Answer, you will need to file complicated paperwork to ask the judge for permission to file your Cross-Complaint.
General Denial is a simple response to a lawsuit. In one sentence, the defendant denies every allegation in the complaint. The defendant may also state new matters as affirmative defenses to the complaint.
Demurrer is used to tell the court that the allegations in the complaint do not provide legally sufficient reason for the defendant to be sued. A Demurrer questions only the legal sufficiency of the allegations, not their truth or the plaintiff’s ability to prove them. In the Demurrer, the defendant must state the ways in which the complaint is legally insufficient.
With a Motion to Strike, the defendant asks the court to eliminate specific parts of a pleading, including phrases or individual words. In limited jurisdiction cases (under $25,000), parties may only use this motion to attack the “prayer” portion of the complaint, where the plaintiff states the amount of money or relief being requested.
Motion to Change Venue or a Motion to Transfer asks the court to move the case to another court. This can be a court in another county or a different type of court.
Services Provided: The Civil Self Help Center provides general information and basic assistance to self-represented litigants on a variety of civil legal issues. All assistance is provided by telephone or Zoom videoconference. Visit “Issues We Can And Cannot Assist With” (saclaw.org/cshc-services) for a list of qualifying cases.