Q: In California does the defendant have to serve papers to the plaintiff after the plaintiff serves the defendant
The defendant is the mother and went on deployment with the navy the father is ordered to pay her 220$ per month and is sueing the mother for the child support he paid while she was on deployment because he had physical custody of the children while she was deployed but there was never a court order. The only court order in place was for him to pay 220$ a month
A:
The answer to your question is no. The defendant does not have to serve a response/answer on the plaintiff after the plaintiff serves a summons, complaint/petition on the defendant.
However, it sounds to me the plaintiff here is going about it completely wrong. The fact the mom goes on deployment does not affect the dad's obligation to pay support. What he should have done was reach an agreement with the mom before the deployment to stop paying the support for the duration of the deployment. Suing now makes no sense and the case will likely get dismissed.
Additionally, if the mom is active duty (on deployment or not), there is a federal law called the Servicemember's Civil Relief Act (SCRA) that will apply. If the mom fails to file a response within 30 days of being served, you cannot seek a default judgment against her. If you do, SCRA allows that default to be set aside just like it never happened.
Andy
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