A Statement of Claim is legal notice filed by a person (called the Plaintiff) who seeks a judgement against you in Court. The Plaintiff prepares a Statement of Claim and files it in the Court of Queen’s Bench. Filing the Statement of Claim commences a legal action and it must be promptly served personally upon the other party or parties named as Defendant(s) in the Statement of Claim.
Once the Statement of Claim is received by the Defendant, the Defendant may respond by either:
If a person who receives a Statement of Claim fails to respond within the specified time period, the Plaintiff can proceed to obtain judgment without further notice to the Defendant. The following time limits for response to a Statement of Claim apply in Alberta:
Upon receiving a Statement of Claim, read the document very carefully to determine exactly what is being requested and alleged. When reading a Statement of Claim, look for the following information:
After receiving a Statement of Claim consider contacting a lawyer to understand what your options are. When responding to a Statement of Claim, take the following steps:
Consult a lawyer as quickly as possible, as the response to the Statement of Claim has strict time limits applicable. As previously mentioned, if a person was served with the Statement of Claim in Alberta, they have 20 days to respond. If they were served in Canada, but outside of Alberta, they have one month to respond. If they were served outside of Canada, they have two months to respond.