Art. 1035.Answer
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title I. Pleading · Chapter 6. Incidental Actions · Last amended 2014 · Last verified July 30, 2026
Full Text of Art. 1035
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 2014, No. 655, §1, eff. 8/1/2014.
Plain-English Summary
Once a party files an incidental demand, the party on the receiving end has to answer it, and Article 1035 borrows the principal-action answer rules wholesale rather than inventing a separate framework. The deadline is the delay set by Article 1001 — the same window that applies to answering an original petition.
The content and mechanics of the answer follow the same path too. Articles 1003 through 1006, which govern the form of an answer, general and specific denials, and affirmative defenses in a principal action, apply with equal force to the answer in an incidental action. A defendant in reconvention, a co-party answering a cross-claim, or a third-party defendant answering a third-party demand all work from the same rulebook a defendant would use in answering the original suit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time does a party have to answer an incidental demand?
The same delay set by Article 1001 for answering a principal demand.
Do the same rules for denials and affirmative defenses apply to an answer in an incidental action?
Yes. Article 1035 applies Articles 1003 through 1006 — governing the form of an answer, denials, and affirmative defenses — to answers filed in incidental actions.
Is answering a reconventional demand different from answering an original petition?
Procedurally, no. Article 1035 applies the same deadline and the same content rules to both.