Utah Counter Claim

In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of his or her own against the plaintiff, the defendant's claims are counterclaims.

Answer each issue of the complaint. Assert affirmative defenses. File the answer with the court and serve the plaintiff with answer.

A pleading may state as a counterclaim against an opposing party any claim that is not compulsory.A counterclaim need not diminish or defeat the recovery sought by the opposing party. It may request relief that exceeds in amount or differs in kind from the relief sought by the opposing party.

The answer to counterclaim must also state defenses to each of the Defendant's counterclaims in short, plain statements. Complete the top of the Answer to Counterclaim exactly as it appears in your, the Plaintiff's, complaint.

Pull the header information from the plaintiff's petition. Title your Answer Answer to Plaintiff's Petition/Complaint. Center this title and make it bold. Introduce yourself. Admit, deny, or claim that you lack sufficient knowledge to admit or deny each of the plaintiff's numbered allegations.

Do I need to serve my counterclaim? After you file your counterclaim, a copy of the counterclaim must be delivered to each counterdefendant. This is called "service of process." The court applies the same rules to serving a counterclaim as it applies to serving the initial Small Claims Complaint.

Pull the header information from the plaintiff's petition. Title your Answer Answer to Plaintiff's Petition/Complaint. Center this title and make it bold. Introduce yourself. Admit, deny, or claim that you lack sufficient knowledge to admit or deny each of the plaintiff's numbered allegations.

If a defendant does raise counterclaims in her answer, the plaintiff must respond to those counterclaims with a pleading called an "answer to a counterclaim." The form and content of an "answer to a counterclaim" is similar to that of an answer.

The counterclaim must be filed at least seven (7) days before the trial date. If you decide to file a counterclaim less than seven days before the trial date, you must contact the magistrate to whom the case is assigned and obtain permission to file your counterclaim.