Current through August 12, 2025 (2026 Practice Book edition) · Last verified July 9, 2026
In one sentenceThis section sets out the five things a motion to strike can contest, and requires a motion based on a missing necessary party to name that person and state their interest.
(a)Whenever any party wishes to contest (1) the legal sufficiency of the allegations of any complaint or cross complaint, or of any one or more counts thereof, to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or (2) the legal sufficiency of any claim for relief in any such complaint or cross complaint, or (3) the legal sufficiency of any such complaint or cross complaint, or any count thereof, because of the absence of any necessary party, or (4) the joining of two or more causes of action which cannot properly be united in one complaint or cross complaint, whether the same be stated in one or more counts, or (5) the legal sufficiency of any answer to any complaint or cross complaint, or any part of that answer contained therein, that party may do so by filing a motion to strike the contested pleading or part thereof.
(b)A motion to strike on the ground of the nonjoinder of a necessary party must give the name and residence of the missing party or such information as the moving party has as to his or her identity and residence and must state his or her interest in the cause of action.
End
Amendment History
(P.B. 1998.)
Plain-English Summary
The motion to strike attacks a pleading’s legal sufficiency rather than its truth. This section lists what it may contest: the legal sufficiency of the allegations of a complaint or cross complaint, or of one or more counts, to state a claim on which relief can be granted; the legal sufficiency of any claim for relief in such a pleading; the legal sufficiency of a complaint or cross complaint, or a count, because a necessary party is absent; the joining of two or more causes of action that cannot properly be united in one complaint or cross complaint; and the legal sufficiency of an answer, or any part of it.
Where the ground is nonjoinder of a necessary party, the motion must give that person’s name and residence — or whatever the moving party knows of their identity and residence — and state their interest in the cause of action. A court cannot bring in a missing party it cannot identify.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a motion to strike do in a Connecticut family case?
It contests the legal sufficiency of a pleading — the allegations of a complaint or cross complaint, a claim for relief, a pleading missing a necessary party, an improper joining of causes of action, or an answer.
What if a necessary party has been left out?
A motion to strike on that ground must give the missing party’s name and residence, or such information as the moving party has, and must state that person’s interest in the cause of action.
Source & verification. The section text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Connecticut Practice Book (Conn. Practice Book § 25-16). Prescribed by the Judges of the Superior Court of Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 51-14). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 9, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:motion to strike Connecticut family casePractice Book section 25-16legal sufficiency pleading CT divorcenonjoinder of necessary party Connecticut