How to Respond to a Lawsuit in Kansas: Answer a Summons (2026)

An answer responds to each numbered paragraph of the petition by admitting it, denying it, or stating you lack enough information to admit or deny, and then lists your affirmative defenses. You can use the Kansas Judicial Council answer form or type the answer in a caption that conforms to K.S.A. 60-210(a) and Kansas Supreme Court Rule 111, with the court, the parties, and the case number. Common affirmative defenses include the statute of limitations, payment, accord and satisfaction, release, res judicata, and waiver.

If you missed your deadline and a default judgment was entered under K.S.A. 60-255(a), you can file a Motion for Relief from Judgment or Order under K.S.A. 60-260. The court can set the judgment aside for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect under 60-260(b)(1). The motion must be filed within a reasonable time, and for that ground no more than one year after the judgment, so move quickly because the one-year outer limit is strict.

Sometimes. Parties often agree in writing to extend the answer period, and you can ask the court for more time before your deadline passes. Kansas computes the period under K.S.A. 60-206 by counting every day, including weekends and legal holidays, but if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday the deadline rolls to the next business day. Get any extension in writing, because the default clock keeps running until the plaintiff agrees, the court grants more time, or you file your answer.

Filing an answer in Kansas generally carries no fee unless you assert a counterclaim that exceeds the plaintiff's claim. If a docket fee does apply and you cannot afford it, you can file a Poverty Affidavit asking the court to waive it. Eligibility is based on your inability to pay the docket fee by reason of poverty. The official form is available from the Kansas Judicial Council forms library.

Yes. Insufficient service of process and lack of personal jurisdiction are recognized defenses you can raise by motion or in your answer under K.S.A. 60-212(b). If service was defective, the time to answer may not have started to run. Raise a service problem promptly rather than ignoring the case, because ignoring the summons still risks a default judgment under K.S.A. 60-255(a).

Common affirmative defenses include the statute of limitations, accord and satisfaction, payment, release, estoppel, fraud, statute of frauds, res judicata, and waiver. To assert your own claims against the plaintiff, you file a counterclaim. Under K.S.A. 60-213, a counterclaim is compulsory if it arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject of the plaintiff's claim, so raise it with your answer or you can lose the right to bring it later.

Most debt-collection cases are filed as limited actions under Chapter 61, so check the summons: you must appear or file a written answer by the time and date stated, and if you appear and dispute the petition the answer is then due within 14 days after the appearance date under K.S.A. 61-2904(a). Check the five-year statute of limitations for written contracts under K.S.A. 60-511 and whether the collector validated the debt under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692g. Attorney review of a debt-collection answer is available as an option.

No. Kansas small claims procedure does not allow a defensive written answer, because K.S.A. 61-2705 provides that no pleadings other than the claim are allowed. On a claim up to $10,000, the defendant appears in person on the hearing date stated in the summons rather than filing a paper answer. A defendant who has a claim against the plaintiff from the same transaction instead files a statement of that claim. Do not let the absence of a paper deadline fool you: missing the hearing date can result in a default.