Q: I filed a petition for divorce and summons. Respondent was served by the sheriff. An answer was filed by the Responden.
The Respondent did not send me a copy of the answer. Will I be able to file a motion for default judgment after 30 days? Or is there another motion I should consoder?
A: So long as the Respondent filed his Answer with the court after being served, the court would be unlikely to approve a default judgment against them unless they took no other action moving forward in this case. While the failure to provide a copy of the Answer to you is something you could (and should!) bring up with the court, it is not grounds for a default. In this instance, rather than filing a motion with the court, the better route would be to bring up the failure to provide the document to you at your next court appearance so the court can admonish the Respondent to serve you with copies of all documents moving forward. Motions - while appropriate in some situations - will ultimately delay the divorce process, and motions regarding issues that can be resolved more efficiently are generally frowned upon by the courts.
Cheryl Powell agrees with this answer
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A: Get a copy of the answer from the clerk. When he files an answer, he is not in default.
1 user found this answer helpful
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