(a) Service of Pleadings. The complaint may be served with the summons, except that in an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction, the complaint shall be served with the summons. A subsequent pleading asserting new or additional claims for relief shall be served upon a party who has not appeared in the manner provided for service of a summons. In any other case, a pleading shall be served in the manner provided for service of papers generally. Service of an answer or reply shall be made within twenty days after service of the pleading to which it responds.
§ 3012.Service of pleadings and demand for complaint.
Article 30. Remedies and Pleading · Last amended 2022 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 3012 sets the timing rules for serving pleadings in a New York lawsuit, covering when a complaint must accompany the summons, how a defendant can demand one that wasn't served, extra time when service wasn't made by personal in-hand delivery, and the court's power to extend deadlines for cause.
Full Text of CPLR 3012
(b) Service of Complaint Where Summons Served Without Complaint. If the complaint is not served with the summons, the defendant may serve a written demand for the complaint within the time provided in subdivision (a) of rule 320 for an appearance. Service of the complaint shall be made within twenty days after service of the demand. Service of the demand shall extend the time to appear until twenty days after service of the complaint. If no demand is made, the complaint shall be served within twenty days after service of the notice of appearance. The court upon motion may dismiss the action if service of the complaint is not made as provided in this subdivision. A demand or motion under this subdivision does not of itself constitute an appearance in the action.
(c) Additional Time to Serve Answer Where Summons and Complaint Not Personally Delivered to Person to Be Served Within the State. If the complaint is served with the summons and the service is made on the defendant by delivering the summons and complaint to an official of the state authorized to receive service in his behalf or if service of the summons and complaint is made pursuant to section 303, paragraphs two, three, four or five of section 308, or sections 313, 314 or 315, service of an answer shall be made within thirty days after service is complete.
(d) Extension of Time to Appear or Plead. Upon the application of a party, the court may extend the time to appear or plead, or compel the acceptance of a pleading untimely served, upon such terms as may be just and upon a showing of reasonable excuse for delay or default.
Plain-English Summary
Once a lawsuit is underway, CPLR 3012 governs when each side's papers are due. A complaint may be served together with the summons, and in an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction it must be. A later pleading that adds new or additional claims against a party who hasn't appeared has to be served the way a summons is served; otherwise, pleadings follow the ordinary rules for serving papers generally. Once a pleading is served, the response — an answer or a reply — is due within twenty days.
If the complaint doesn't come with the summons, the defendant isn't left waiting indefinitely. Subdivision (b) lets the defendant serve a written demand for the complaint within the time allowed to appear, which then gives the plaintiff twenty days to serve it. Making that demand extends the defendant's time to appear until twenty days after the complaint is served. If no demand is made, the plaintiff must serve the complaint within twenty days after the notice of appearance, and the court can dismiss the action if it isn't. Neither a demand nor a motion under this subdivision counts, by itself, as an appearance in the case.
Subdivision (c) recognizes that not every defendant is handed the summons and complaint directly. When service is made on a state official authorized to accept it, or through certain other methods the statute lists rather than personal in-hand delivery within the state, the defendant gets thirty days to answer instead of twenty, since service by those routes can take longer to reach the defendant in fact.
Finally, subdivision (d) gives the court room to be flexible: on a party's application, it may extend the time to appear or plead, or compel acceptance of a pleading that was served late, on terms that are just and on a showing of a reasonable excuse for the delay or default.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a defendant have to answer a complaint in New York?
Ordinarily twenty days after service of the complaint, though CPLR 3012(c) extends that to thirty days when service was made through certain methods other than personal in-hand delivery within the state.
What happens if I'm served with a summons but no complaint?
You can serve a written demand for the complaint within your time to appear, which then gives the plaintiff twenty days to serve it and extends your time to appear until twenty days after you receive it.
Can I demand a copy of the complaint under CPLR 3012?
Yes. CPLR 3012(b) lets a defendant serve a written demand for the complaint when it wasn't served with the summons.
Do I get more time to answer if I wasn't personally handed the summons?
Yes, in the situations CPLR 3012(c) lists, such as service on an authorized state official or through certain other specified methods, the time to answer extends to thirty days.
Can a New York court extend the deadline to answer or reply?
Yes. CPLR 3012(d) lets the court extend the time to appear or plead, or accept an untimely pleading, on just terms and a showing of reasonable excuse for the delay.
Does demanding the complaint count as appearing in the case?
No. CPLR 3012(b) states that a demand or motion under that subdivision does not of itself constitute an appearance in the action.
Advisory Committee Notes
Subd. (a) Former practice in respect to not requiring the complaint to be served with the summons is continued. The last sentence of CPA § 263 is omitted. It allowed an extension of time to answer where the defendant had been arrested before answer, but only applied to arrest on the grounds specified in CPA § 826, which has been abolished. See CPLR § 6101; introduction to article 61 of the CPLR. The granting of a provisional remedy under the new CPLR does not of itself affect the time to answer. Cf. 1 Report of the Board of Statutory Consolidation on the Simplification of the Civil Practice of New York 307, note 263 (1915).
Subd. (b) of this section is based upon CPA § 257. It is necessary where the summons is served without the complaint. The requirement that the demand be served within 20 days after service of the summons is omitted as unnecessary; time to appear is covered by CPLR rule 320(a). The provision that the demand may be incorporated in a notice of appearance has been deleted as unnecessary.
Subd. (c) of this section replaces former provisions which added ten days to the time to respond where the defendant was served by delivering the summons to an official of the state. CPA §§ 228(9), 299(2); Banking Law § 34; Gen Ass’ns Law § 19; Ins Law § 59(2); cf. Workmen’s Comp Law § 150-a (board may order continuance). It also replaces the similar provisions that service was complete ten days after an event such as filing proof of service. CPA §§ 227-a, 229-b, 223, 235 (filing); Gen Bus Law § 250 (same); id. § 352-b (return receipt received); Ins Law § 59-a(2) (filing); Soc Welfare Law § 482-d (return receipt received); Vehicle & Traffic Law § 52 (filing); cf. Real Prop Law § 442-g (20 days after mailing). In a few cases, there were no former provisions for extending time to answer after service by delivery to a state official. E.g., Vehicle & Traffic Law § 94-p; Banking Law § 131(3) (as to clerk of Surrogate’s Court). All of these provisions gave recognition to the fact that the party might not have been notified of the claims against him until some time after service was complete. Additional time to answer should be given in all such cases. Former provisions in the Consolidated Laws granting additional time to answer have been repealed so that there can be no question that only one automatic extension is intended to be granted. This subdivision parallels the extension of time to appear granted by subd. (a) of CPLR rule 320. See the notes to that subdivision.
1977 Recommendations of the Committee to Advise and Consult with the Judicial Conference on the Civil Practice Law and Rules:
Under former practice in an action commenced by service of a summons without complaint, default was avoided by service of notice of appearance and demand for service of complaint, both steps time-limited to 20 days. In re-storing the pre-CPLR practice of permitting commencement of an action by service of a summons without complaint, the CPLR eliminated the time limit for the demand, as unnecessary (Sen. Fin. Comm. Rep. (Leg. Doc. No. 15) 418 (1961)). While this deviation from C.P.A. practice spared the defendant from exposure to a double risk of default, viz., failure to serve a notice of appearance and failure to serve a demand for a complaint, the solution produced undesirable side effects. It introduced uncertainty as to how to proceed where a summons is served without a complaint.
The basic problems created by the pertinent provision, CPLR 3012(b), are the uncertainty as to when a demand for a complaint shall be made if a summons is served without a complaint, the uncertainty as to whether and how the complaint may be served without a demand by the defendant, and the effect of the service of a demand for a complaint upon the time to appear (see Homburger and Laufer, supra at 395-398).
These questions would be resolved by providing time limits in CPLR 3012(b) which would cover all contingencies, and by requiring service of the complaint without a demand when defendant appears timely after service of an unaccompanied summons.
More specifically, the proposed amendment would provide that the demand be made within the time provided in CPLR 320(a) for an appearance, normally 20 days after service of summons.
It would further be provided that service of the complaint shall be made within 20 days after the service of the demand, or if no demand is made, within 20 days after service of the notice of appearance.
Regarding the problem of the effect of the service of the demand for a complaint upon the time to appear, the proposed amendment would provide that service of the demand would extend the time to appear until 20 days after service of the complaint.
It would also be provided that the court upon motion may dismiss the action if timely service of the complaint is not made.
Finally, if the defendant neither makes en appearance nor a demand for the complaint, he would be in default of appearing. It would then be incumbent upon the plaintiff to take proceedings for entry of judgment within one year after the default in order to avoid a dismissal of the complaint under CPLR 3215(c). The proposed mandatory 305(b) notice would assure that plaintiff could so proceed. On the other hand, if defendant appears timely it would be incumbent upon the plaintiff to serve the complaint within 20 days after service of the notice of appearance without imposing the burden of making a demand on the defendant (see Homburger and Laufer, supra at 396).
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1964, ch 388, § 10; L 1970, ch 852, § 3, eff Sept 1, 1970; L 1978, ch 528, § 4, eff Jan 1, 1979; L 1983, ch 318, § 2, eff June 21, 1983; L 2021, ch 593, § 6, effective May 7, 2022.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: time to answer complaint New Yorkdemand for complaint NY lawsuitservice of pleadings CPLRextra time to answer summons NYextend time to answer New York court