DISCLAIMER The comments on this blog
are the opinions of the blogger based on personal experience as a
defendant in a divorce case. Please note that the information here
does not constitute legal advice. I am not a lawyer. It is strongly
recommended that you hire a family law attorney, licensed to practice in
your state, to represent you and to help guide you through the
complicated process of divorce.
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Once you, the defendant, have been served with a Complaint for Divorce, the clock starts ticking. You must file your response within 35 days.
There are a few different ways a defendant might respond to the plaintiff's Complaint for Divorce. For example, a defendant could file an Appearance or just an Answer without a Counterclaim. Also, there are different variations of Answers depending on the grounds for divorce; that is, an answer to a Complaint about extreme cruelty might differ from one about adultery.
I filed an Answer and Counterclaim based on irreconcilable differences because those are the grounds my spouse gave for divorce.
Of course, the best idea is to consult with a lawyer before filing anything. As I have no means to pay a lawyer and was rejected by Legal Services of New Jersey, I decided to follow the instructions in LSNJ's book Divorce in New Jersey: A Self-Help Guide. The book contains a form for a defendant to use.
In preparing my own answer, here's what I learned:
The Answer is your point-by-point response to the plaintiff's Complaint for Divorce. Then, in the Counterclaim, you present your side of the story and make your own demands.
I never found an example of an Answer and Counterclaim on the New Jersey State Judiciary website. However, some lawyers share samples on their websites. Here's one example, written the way I suppose a lawyer might write it: Click here and then download to see one lawyer's sample Answer and Counterclaim.
Luckily, the Answer and Counterclaim form in LSNJ's Self-Help Guide is written in a simple way for a pro se litigant to use. Of course, it isn't available online. You can photocopy it from the book, but the form doesn't
provide much room for comments. So, I referred to it only as a guide for writing my own Answer and Counterclaim.
Yet another option is to buy a prewritten Answer and Counterclaim
through a vendor. There are many businesses that sell these forms. I
didn't take this route, though, so I can't recommend one to you.
Here's what I did:
The Answer
I noticed that all sample Answers begin with this line:
The Defendant, full name, residing at street address, town, county, State of New Jersey, by way of answer to Plaintiff's complaint says:
After that first line, the defendant must respond to every numbered paragraph in the plaintiff's complaint by admitting (agreeing with) or denying (disagreeing with) the plaintiff's allegations and, if necessary, making additional comments.
So, for example, suppose the plaintiff claims in paragraph #1 of the Complaint for Divorce
that you, the defendant, reside at 123 Main Street, Anytown, New Jersey,
in Atlantic County. If that statement is true, here's what you could write in your Answer:
I admit the allegations contained in paragraph 1.
- or -
Defendant admits the allegations contained in paragraph 1.
On the other hand, suppose your spouse claims in paragraph 2 of the Complaint for Divorce that you've been separated for 18 months, but you know that you've been living apart for only two months. You might write:
I deny the allegations contained in paragraph 2. The Plaintiff and I have been living apart for two months.
- or -
Defendant denies the allegations contained in paragraph 2. Defendant and Plaintiff have been living apart for two months.
You also might want to give details supporting your denial, such as the actual date that you and the plaintiff separated.
Easy, right?
But,
I wasn't sure about some of my own spouse's allegations. So, in my responses to a few of his paragraphs, I didn't admit or deny. Instead, I explained why I wasn't
sure how to respond.
For example, I couldn't know for sure where the
plaintiff was living. So, in response to his claim that he'd been
living at a certain address, I responded: I do not have enough information to confirm Plaintiff's address of residence.
Also, I figured the judge wouldn't want to read a long, rambling saga, so I made every sentence I wrote as concise as possible.
Finally, I noticed that the defendant's Answer always concludes with the following line:
WHEREFORE, Defendant demands judgment dismissing Plaintiff's complaint together with interests and costs of suit.
To give you an example of how an Answer might be written, here's the basic format I used for my own Answer, as suggested by LSNJ's Self-Help Guide:
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Remember to check with a lawyer before filing your own Answer.
The Counterclaim
Here's your chance to tell your side of the story.
The Counterclaim immediately follows the Answer with no page break between the two. The Counterclaim form in LSNJ's Self-Help Guide is very basic. I referred to it only as a starting point but wrote my own Counterclaim, expanding it much further. In my writing, I also referred to my spouse's Complaint for Divorce as a guide. I thought about what I would've stated if I'd filed for divorce first, and I wrote my Counterclaim accordingly.
After making each point in numbered paragraphs, I had to write this clause:
WHEREFORE, Defendant demands judgment:
And I listed each judgment that I demanded, this time in lettered paragraphs (A, B, C, etc.), just as my spouse did in his Complaint.
Then I wrote my signature and the date at the bottom.
Here's an example of the basic format that I followed in writing the first part of my own Counterclaim, although mine was much longer:
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And here's the second page showing the format I followed in writing the demands for judgment for my Counterclaim:
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Notice that a certain style of writing is used in these legal documents. For one thing, the words Plaintiff and Defendant are capitalized when used in place of names. Also, do not use contractions in legal documents; that is, a contraction such as isn't should be written out as is not.
As always, remember to check with a lawyer before filing your own Answer and Counterclaim. The information on this blog is not intended as legal advice.
If you're representing yourself, at the very least consult with a lawyer and/or refer to the Answer and Counterclaim form in LSNJ's Divorce in New Jersey: A Self-Help Guide.
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