(A) Capacity. It is not necessary to aver the capacity of a party to sue or be sued, the authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, or the legal existence of an organization that is made a party. The burden of proving lack of such capacity, authority, or legal existence shall be upon the person asserting lack of it, and shall be pleaded as an affirmative defense.
Rule 9.Pleading special matters
Current through July 1, 2026 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 9 sets special pleading requirements for six situations — a party’s legal capacity, allegations of fraud or mistake, conditions precedent, official documents or acts, prior judgments, and time, place, and special damages — marking where a party can plead loosely and where the details must be spelled out.
Full Text of Rule 9
(B) Fraud, mistake, condition of the mind. In all averments of fraud or mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be specifically averred. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of mind may be averred generally.
(C) Conditions precedent. In pleading the performance or occurrence of promissory or non-promissory conditions pre- cedent, it is sufficient to aver generally that all conditions precedent have been performed, have occurred, or have been excused. A denial of performance or occurrence shall be made specifically and with particularity, and a denial of excuse generally.
(D) Official document or act. In pleading an official document or official act it is sufficient to aver that the document was issued or the act done in compliance with law.
(E) Judgment. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or of a board or officer, it is sufficient to aver the judgment or decision without set- ting forth matter showing jurisdiction to render it.
(F) Time and place. For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of a pleading, averments of time and place are material and shall be considered like all other averments of material matter. However, time and place need be stated only with such specificity as will enable the opposing party to pre- pare his defense.
(G) Special damages--Damages where no answer. When items of special damage are claimed, they shall be specifically stated. The relief gran- ted to the plaintiff, if there be no answer, cannot exceed the relief demanded in his com- plaint; but, in any other case, the court may grant him any relief consistent with the facts or matters pleaded.
Amendment History
This rule’s current text took effect July 1, 2023. For the full history of earlier amendments and adoption orders, see the Indiana Office of Court Services.
Plain-English Summary
Section A says you do not have to plead that a party has the legal capacity, authority, or existence to sue or be sued — the rule presumes it. If someone wants to challenge that, the challenge is theirs to raise, and they carry the burden of proving the lack of capacity, authority, or legal existence. Rule 9 treats that challenge as an affirmative defense, which means it has to show up in a responsive pleading — a party who skips raising it can lose the chance to challenge capacity later in the case.
Section B sets a stricter standard for fraud and mistake: the circumstances behind the claim have to be spelled out specifically, not asserted in general terms. Pleadings that meet this standard tend to identify what was said or concealed, when, where, and why it was false or misleading, rather than resting on a bare accusation. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other states of mind are the opposite case: those can be alleged generally, since a party rarely has direct access to what was in someone else’s head.
Sections C through F cover four narrower situations. Conditions precedent — steps that have to happen before an obligation kicks in — can be pleaded with a general statement that all of them were performed, occurred, or were excused; but a party who wants to deny that a condition was met has to do so specifically, while a denial of an excuse for non-performance can stay general. Pleading an official document or act only requires saying it was issued or done in compliance with law, without walking through the process behind it. Pleading a prior judgment or decision — from an Indiana court, another jurisdiction’s court, or a tribunal or board — only requires stating the judgment itself, not proving that the body that issued it had jurisdiction to do so. And while time and place are treated as material facts a court can test a pleading against, they only need enough detail to let the other side prepare a defense, not exhaustive precision.
Section G requires that special damages — losses that do not follow automatically from the wrong alleged — be spelled out specifically rather than folded into a general damages claim. It also sets a real limit on default judgments: if the defendant never answers, the relief awarded cannot exceed what the complaint demanded. In a contested case, by contrast, the court is not boxed in by the demand and can award any relief consistent with the facts and matters pleaded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to prove a party’s legal capacity to sue in my complaint?
No. Rule 9(A) says you do not need to allege that a party has the capacity, authority, or legal existence to sue or be sued — it is presumed unless the other side challenges it.
How do I challenge whether someone has the capacity or authority to sue?
Raise it as an affirmative defense in your responsive pleading, and be ready to prove it. Rule 9(A) puts the burden of proving a lack of capacity, authority, or legal existence on whoever raises the challenge, and treating it as an affirmative defense means it generally has to be raised early or it can be lost.
How specific does a fraud or mistake allegation have to be?
Rule 9(B) requires the circumstances making up the fraud or mistake to be stated specifically, not asserted in conclusory terms. A pleading should identify what was said or concealed, and when, where, and why it was false or misleading.
Can I allege someone’s intent or knowledge without laying out detailed proof?
Yes. Rule 9(B) allows malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of the mind to be alleged generally, unlike the specificity required for the underlying fraud or mistake itself.
Do I need to list every condition precedent that was satisfied in a contract dispute?
No. Rule 9(C) lets you plead generally that all conditions precedent were performed, occurred, or were excused. If the other side wants to deny that a condition was met, though, that denial has to be specific.
What happens if I don’t specifically state my special damages?
Rule 9(G) requires special damages to be specifically stated. Damages that do not follow automatically from the wrong you are alleging need their own itemized statement, not a general damages request.
Can I recover more than what I asked for in my complaint if the defendant never answers?
No. Rule 9(G) caps a default judgment at the relief demanded in the complaint. If the case is contested rather than defaulted, the court is not limited to the demand and can award any relief that fits the facts and matters pleaded.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure (T.R. 9). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Indiana, under its inherent constitutional rulemaking power (reaffirmed by Ind. Code 34-8-1-1 and 34-8-2-1); originally enacted by the Indiana General Assembly in 1969. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
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