Have you been sued in West Palm Beach for tortious interference with an inheritanceor other claims? You may have as little as twenty-one days to get your answer to the court! If you accepted service by mail it may be as little as sixty days. Do you know what happens if you miss the deadline? You may end up being served with a notice of default. Check out this recent case out of the Fifth District Court of Appeal on default judgments.
What is a “Default Judgment?”
- Have you heard the term default judgment?
- In West Palm Beach to sue someone a plaintiff files a complaint with the Court and then serves that with a summons on the Defendant.
- Once that happens and you are served you better get started on a defense because the clock is ticking.
- You may have as little as twenty-one days to answer, and if you waived service (allowing the plaintiff to mail the summons) then you may have sixty days.
- Either way that is not a lot of time and what happens after?
- You may be subject to a default judgment first watch out for an entry of default.
- An entry of default is the Courts way of saying too late, your right to answer the complaint is cut off.
- These similar deadlines apply to most actions in West Palm Beach probate matters too, know the deadlines to avoid losing on a technicality.
- After the entry of default the other party may ask the court for an entry of default judgment such that you cannot even defend your claim (besides the damages).
- Pay attention to those deadlines.
Felipe v. Rincon
- This was an appeal from the Fifth District Court of Appeals after a default final judgment was given to a father in a family dispute.
- This was one of the rare times that the Court reversed an entry of default and default judgment because the other party was not served.
- Are you paying attention to the deadlines in your West Palm Beach probate dispute?
- If not you risk losing on default.
- Experienced probate litigators in West Palm Beach know that there are few excuses for getting out of a default.
- Do you have a plan to get that reversed?
Want to learn more about getting out of a default judgment?
Check out the entire case by clicking here.