12.01 When Presented. A defendant shall serve an answer within thirty (30) days after the service of the summons and complaint upon him. A party served with a pleading stating a cross-claim against such party shall serve an answer thereto within thirty (30) days after the service upon him or her. The plaintiff shall serve a reply to a counterclaim in the answer within thirty (30) days after service of the answer, or, if a reply is ordered by the court, within thirty (30) days after service of the order, unless the order otherwise directs. The service of a motion permitted under this rule alters these periods of time as follows, unless a different time is fixed by order of the court: (1) if the court denies the motion or postpones its disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive pleading shall be served within fifteen (15) days after notice of the court's action; (2) if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement the responsive pleading shall be served within fifteen (15) days after the service of the more definite statement.
Rule 12.Defenses and Objections: When and How Presented: By Pleading or Motion: Motion for Judgment on Pleadings
Last amended July 1, 2009 · Last verified July 2, 2026
In one sentenceRule 12 gives a defendant 30 days to answer, lists the defenses — like lack of jurisdiction or failure to state a claim — that may be raised by motion before an answer, abolishes the old special-appearance procedure, and sets which defenses are lost if not raised early and which can still be raised at trial.
Full Text of Rule 12
12.02 How Presented. Every defense, in law or fact, to a claim for relief in any pleading, whether a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, shall be asserted in the responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by motion in writing: (1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, (2) lack of jurisdiction over the person, (3) improper venue, (4) insufficiency of process, (5) insufficiency of service of process, (6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, (7) failure to join a party under Rule 19, and (8) specific negative averments made pursuant to Rule 9.01. A motion making any of these defenses shall be made before pleading if a further pleading is permitted. No defense or objection is waived by being joined with one or more other defenses or objections in a responsive pleading or motion. If a pleading sets forth a claim for relief to which the adverse party is not required to serve a responsive pleading, the adverse party may assert at the trial any defense in law or fact to the claim for relief. If, on a motion asserting the defense numbered (6) to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
12.03 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. After the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings. If, on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
12.04 Preliminary Hearings. On application of any party, the defenses specifically enumerated (1) through (8) in 12.02, whether made in a pleading or by motion, and the motion for judgment mentioned in 12.03 shall be heard and determined before trial unless the court orders that the hearing and determination thereof be deferred until the trial.
12.05 Motion for More Definite Statement. If a pleading to which a responsive pleading is permitted is so vague or ambiguous that a party cannot reasonably be required to frame a responsive pleading, the party may move for a more definite statement before interposing a responsive pleading. The motion shall point out the defects complained of and the details desired. If the motion is granted and the order of the court is not obeyed within fifteen (15) days after notice of the order or within such other time as the court may fix, the court may strike the pleading to which the motion was directed or may make such order as it deems just.
12.06 Motion to Strike. Upon motion made by a party before responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is permitted by these rules, upon motion made by a party within thirty (30) days after the service of the pleading upon him or upon the court's own initiative at any time, the court may order stricken from any pleading insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent or scandalous matter.
12.07 Consolidation of Defenses. A party who makes a motion under this rule may join it with the other motions herein provided for and then available to the party. If a party makes a motion under this rule and does not include therein all defenses and objections then available to the party which this rule permits to be raised by motion, the party shall not thereafter make a motion based on any of the defenses or objections so omitted, except as provided in 12.08.
12.08 Waiver of Defenses. A party waives all defenses and objections which the party does not present either by motion as hereinbefore provided, or, if the party has made no motion, in the party's answer or reply, or any amendments thereto, (provided, however, the defenses enumerated in 12.02(2), (3), (4) and (5) shall not be raised by amendment), except (1) that the defense of failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the defense of failure to join an indispensable party, the defense of lack of capacity, and the objection of failure to state a legal defense to a claim may also be made by a later pleading, if one is permitted, or by motion for judgment on the pleadings or at the trial on the merits, and except (2) that, whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action. The objection or defense, if made at the trial, shall be disposed of as provided in Rule 15 in the light of any evidence that may have been received.
Advisory Commission Comments
Advisory Commission Comments [2001].
This change conforms Rule 12.02(7) to revised Rule 19, under which a party is rarely "indispensable." Rule 19 presently deals with "persons to be joined if feasible." Rule 12.08 remains unchanged, because a late objection based on Rule 19 should be permitted only when a party is truly "indispensable."
Advisory Commission Comments [2009].
Rule 12.08 is amended to state the deadline for raising a defense of lack of capacity under Rule 9.01. This defense is found in Rule 12.02(8) by cross-reference to Rule 9.01. Lack of capacity can be raised as late as at the trial on the merits.
Advisory Commission Comments [2014].
12.02: Effective July 1, 2012, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 20-12-119 was amended to add subsection (c) which authorizes the trial court, under certain circumstances, to award costs and reasonable and necessary attorney's fees to a party who prevails on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Section 20-12-119(c) requires the party or parties whose claim or claims were dismissed to pay the awarded costs and fees.
Amendment History
- As amended by order filed January 8, 2009, effective July 1, 2009.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 12.01 requires a defendant to serve an answer within 30 days after being served with the summons and complaint, with matching 30-day deadlines for an answer to a cross-claim and a reply to a counterclaim. Rule 12.02 lists the defenses a party may raise by motion instead of waiting for the responsive pleading: lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter or the person, improper venue, insufficiency of process or of service of process, failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, failure to join a party required by Rule 19, and a specific negative averment challenging capacity under Rule 9.01. Raising these defenses by pre-answer motion is optional, not mandatory, and no defense is waived merely because it is joined with others in the same motion or pleading.
Before the rules, Tennessee required a party to raise defenses like lack of personal jurisdiction or improper venue through a rigid "special appearance" procedure — asserting any defense on the merits at the same time waived those defenses entirely. Rule 12 abolished that trap, letting a party raise every defense together without losing the disfavored ones, though Rule 12.08 still requires jurisdiction, venue, process, and service-of-process defenses to be raised at the first opportunity or be waived, unlike failure to state a claim or failure to join a required party, which can be raised as late as trial.
Rule 12.03 allows a motion for judgment on the pleadings after the pleadings close, and Rule 12.04 requires the enumerated defenses and that motion to be heard and decided before trial unless the court defers them. Rule 12.05 lets a party move for a more definite statement when a pleading is too vague to answer, and Rule 12.06 lets a party move to strike an insufficient defense or immaterial matter. Rule 12.07 lets a party combine all its available motions under this rule in a single filing, and Rule 12.08 sets out which defenses survive to trial and which are waived if not raised promptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days does a defendant have to answer a Tennessee complaint?
30 days after service of the summons and complaint, with the same 30-day period applying to an answer to a cross-claim and a reply to a counterclaim.
What happened to "special appearances" in Tennessee?
Rule 12 abolished the special-appearance procedure that once required a party to raise jurisdiction, venue, or process defenses separately from any defense on the merits, on pain of waiving them. Those defenses can now be raised together in the same motion or pleading.
Which defenses are lost if I do not raise them early?
Under Rule 12.08, lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficiency of process, and insufficiency of service of process are waived if left out of an available pre-answer motion or, absent such a motion, out of the answer. Failure to state a claim and failure to join a required party can still be raised as late as trial.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Commission Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 16-3-402 to 16-3-407, 16-3-601). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 2, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: motion to dismissanswer deadlinespecial appearance abolishedwaiver of defenses
Advisory Commission Comments.
12.01: Rule 12.01 requires that the defendant serve an answer within 30 days after being served with summons and complaint, and also allows the plaintiff 30 days in which to serve an answer to a counterclaim or a reply if one is required. The Rule does not change Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-205 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-215 which govern the special situation where service is had through the Secretary of State upon the personal representatives of decedents who were nonresidents or residents who were outside the state.
12.02: Rule 12.02 provides that certain matters may be raised as a defense by motion. These matters may, at the option of the pleader, be set out in the answer. Matters reached by motion expressly include those specific negative averments which are required by Rule 9.01 when a party wishes to raise an issue as to the legal existence of any party or the capacity to sue or be sued. The last sentence of the rule allows the parties to present matters outside the pleadings and thus to determine whether or not there exists a genuine issue which requires trial.
12.03: Rule 12.03 provides for the filing of a motion for judgment on the pleadings. It should be noted that if matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion is converted by Rule 12.03 into a motion for summary judgment and is disposed of in accordance with Rule 56.
12.04: Rule 12.04 allows certain defenses, whether raised by pleading or on motion, and the motion for judgment on the pleadings to be disposed of in advance of trial, upon application of any party, but the judge may defer hearing and determination of these matters until the trial.
12.05: Rule 12.05 provides that, if a pleading to which a responsive pleading is permitted is so vague or ambiguous that a party cannot reasonably be required to frame a responsive pleading, the court on motion may direct a more specific statement. If the court grants the motion, Rule 12.05 establishes a 15-day (or otherwise as fixed by the court) limit within which the vague or ambiguous pleading must be corrected.
12.06: Rule 12.06 provides for striking out insufficient defense, or redundant, immaterial, impertinent or scandalous matter. If a party wishes to make a motion to strike, the party must do so before responding to the objectionable pleading, or if no responsive pleading is permitted, within 30 days after the objectionable pleading is served on the party. No mention of costs is made in Rule 12.06, but under Rule 54.04 the court could tax costs arising from an order to strike against the offending party.
12.07: The pleader has the option originally not to resort to a motion, but to include all the pleader's defenses in the answer. But if the pleader by motion raises any of the defenses which can be thus raised, the pleader must at that time raise all such defenses which are available; if the pleader fails to do so he or she cannot thereafter raise these other defenses by motion. The Rule is designed to prevent seriatim defense by motion, with the consequent delay. Rule 12.07 is subject to the provisions of Rule 12.08 which allows certain defenses to be made even though not consolidated with an earlier motion.
12.08: Rule 12.08 specifies that, in general, defenses not raised by motion or answer are waived, but the waiver does not apply to the defense of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter and certain other specified defenses relating to statement of legally sufficient claim or defense, or to failure to join necessary parties. The parties cannot by waiver or otherwise confer jurisdiction over the subject matter, and the other exceptions relate to questions which should not be waived; the defects they rely upon can be remedied by amendment if facts permit, and if the facts do not permit an amendment, the defects are of such importance that the defenses based thereon should not be waivable by failure to present them at the earliest opportunity.