Rule 1.303.Time for motion or answer to petition

Rule 1.303 governs the clock that starts running once a defendant, respondent, or other party has been served. In the ordinary case, that party must serve a motion or answer, and then file it within a reasonable time afterward, within 20 days of being served with the original notice and petition. Notice that service of the response comes first under this rule, with filing following close behind — a structure that runs through the rest of Iowa's response-timing provisions.

Several situations shift that 20-day baseline. If an Iowa statute specifically sets its own deadline for a particular action or party, that statute controls instead of the general rule. If service was made in a manner a court order prescribed, the response is due on whatever date the order fixed. If service was by publication, the response is due on the date fixed in the published notice, which cannot be less than 20 days after the last publication. And if service was by mail under Rule 1.306, the response is due on the date fixed in the mailed notice, which cannot be less than 60 days after the mailing.

Each of these variations exists because the method of service affects how much practical notice a defendant had. Publication and mail reach a defendant less reliably than personal service, so the rule builds in a longer minimum runway before a default can follow.