WASHINGTON · SHOW · EDUCATE · ROUTE
I was served in Washington.
Twenty days if served in the state — sixty if served outside it or by publication. The clock below computes your deadline for YOUR service method with the citation attached; the law of the answer is shown in the rule's own words; and what to file is a decision that stays yours, or a licensed Washington attorney's.
1 · The answer-clock computation for your service method
2 · What an answer is, in the rule's own words (CR 8(b))
Admit
A party shall state in short and plain terms the party's defenses to each claim asserted and shall admit or deny the averments upon which the adverse party relies.
Deny
Denials shall fairly meet the substance of the averments denied — a good-faith partial denial specifies what is true and denies only the remainder.
Without knowledge
If a party is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of an averment, the party shall so state and this has the effect of a denial.
The general denial is CONDITIONAL in Washington: A general denial is proper only when the pleader intends in good faith to controvert ALL the averments — and it is made subject to the obligations set forth in rule 11. That intent is the pleader's own judgment.
3 · Drafting is routed — here is why, honestly
In Washington, selecting, drafting, or completing legal documents for another person is the practice of law (GR 24(a)(2)) — and the lawful doorway for entity-delivered legal services is the Supreme Court's Entity Regulation Pilot. That authorization has not been granted — so this surface shows the law and the clocks, and routes the drafting itself to a licensed Washington attorney. The courts' own pattern forms are free and public: courts.wa.gov/forms.
4 · The options the law gives you — shown, then routed
The CR 12(b) motion menu
Jurisdiction, venue, insufficiency of process or service, failure to state a claim, failure to join a party — each may be raised by motion. Defenses omitted from the first motion or responsive pleading can be WAIVED (CR 12(g)/(h)).
CR 12(b), (g), (h)
Affirmative defenses
CR 8(c)'s list — accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, assumption of risk, contributory fault, discharge, duress, estoppel, laches, release, res judicata, statute of limitations, and the rest — must be pled affirmatively or risk waiver.
CR 8(c)
Counterclaims and crossclaims
A compulsory counterclaim arising from the same transaction may be lost if not brought now (CR 13(a)).
CR 13
An enlargement of time
The court may enlarge the time for cause shown — before expiry in its discretion; after expiry on a showing of excusable neglect (CR 6(b)).
CR 6(b)
Eviction papers are different
If your papers are an unlawful-detainer summons, the RLTA show-cause machine (RCW 59.12; RCW 59.18) runs on its own compressed clocks — the deadlines on the papers control, and they are short.
RCW 59.12; RCW 59.18.365
Mandatory arbitration may apply
In qualifying counties and amounts (RCW 7.06: mandatory over 100,000 population; $15,000 base ceiling, raisable to $100,000), the case routes to arbitration — with a 20-day trial de novo exit and fee-shift stakes.
RCW 7.06.010, .020; SCCAR 7.1
Deciding among these is legal judgment. Consult a licensed Washington attorney →
TrialVector is software, not a lawyer and not a law firm, and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. It provides information of a general nature about the law and legal procedures — not legal advice — and forms no attorney-client relationship.