Rule 7.Pleadings Allowed: Form of Motions

Part III. Pleadings and Motions · Last verified September 4, 2026

In one sentenceRule 7 lists the pleadings the rules allow and requires every application to the court to be made by motion stating its grounds with particularity and the relief sought.

Full Text of Rule 7

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c)

(a) Pleadings. There shall be a complaint and (except as provided by law) an answer, and a trustee's answer under oath if trustee process is used; a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such; an answer to a cross-claim, if the answer contains a cross-claim; a third-party complaint, if a person who was not an original party is summoned under the provisions of Rule 14; and a third -party answer, if a third-party complaint is served. No other pleading shall be allowed, except that the court may order a reply to an answer or a third-party answer. In the Land Court, answers in actions for registration, confirmation, or tax foreclosure shall conform to G.L. c. 185, § 41, and G.L. c. 60, § 68, where applicable. (Identical to Mass.R.Civ.P. 7(a))

(b) Motions and Other Papers.

(1) An application to the court for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be made in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought.

(2) The rules applicable to captions, signing, and other matters of form of pleadings apply to all motions and other papers provided for by these rules. (Identical to Mass.R.Civ.P. 7(b))

(c) Demurrers, Pleas, Etc., Abolished. Demurrers, pleas, and exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading shall not be used. (Identical to Mass.R.Civ.P. 7(c))

End

Plain-English Summary

Rule 7 sets the vocabulary for everything that follows. Subsection (a) lists what a party may file: a complaint; an answer, plus a trustee's answer under oath where trustee process is used; a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such; an answer to a cross-claim if the answer contains one; a third-party complaint; and a third-party answer. Nothing else is allowed, except that the court may order a reply to an answer or to a third-party answer.

The list is worth reading against the deleted rules. Third-party practice under Rule 14 is deleted from this set, so the third-party pleadings named in Rule 7(a) survive as text inherited from the civil rule rather than as live domestic relations practice. The Land Court sentence at the end of (a) is inherited the same way.

Motions

Subsection (b)(1) is the operative one: an application to the court for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds, and shall set forth the relief or order sought. Read it with Rule 6(c), which adds seven days' notice and a proposed order, and with Rule 11, which makes the signature a certificate.

Subsection (b)(2) applies the rules on captions, signing and form of pleadings to all motions and other papers. Subsection (c) abolishes demurrers, pleas and exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading — the modern route is Rule 12.

Frequently Asked Questions

What pleadings are allowed in a Massachusetts domestic relations case?

Rule 7(a) allows a complaint; an answer, with a trustee's answer under oath if trustee process is used; a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such; an answer to a cross-claim if the answer contains a cross-claim; a third-party complaint; and a third-party answer. No other pleading is allowed except that the court may order a reply to an answer or a third-party answer.

What has to be in a motion?

Under Rule 7(b)(1), a motion made outside a hearing or trial must be in writing, must state with particularity the grounds for it, and must set forth the relief or order sought. Rule 6(c) adds seven days' notice and a proposed order in itemized paragraphs.

Can I file a demurrer?

No. Rule 7(c) provides that demurrers, pleas and exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading shall not be used. Rule 12 supplies the modern equivalents.

Can I reply to an answer?

Only if the court orders it, or if the answer contains a counterclaim denominated as such, in which case a reply is one of the pleadings Rule 7(a) allows.

Source & verification. Rule text reproduced verbatim from the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure as published by the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries, current through amendments effective May 1, 2010. Promulgated by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Last verified September 4, 2026. · Official text

Also known as: pleadings allowedform of motionsmotion requirementsdemurrer abolished