Answering a Request for Admissions

Do not ignore a Request for Admissions. This asks you to admit whether some statements are true or not. You must respond.

If you do not respond to the requests, the court will assume that you admit everything in the request and you could lose the case without ever appearing in court.

 

For example, a request might ask you something like:

Admit that you have no defense to this case.

In this example, not responding would mean you admit that you have no defense in your case.

A Request for Admissions is part of discovery. See our page on Disclosure and Discovery for more information about other types of discovery.

 

How to respond

Generally, you have 28 days from the date the Request for Admissions is served on you. The Request for Admissions should be sent with a certificate of service that tells you when they were served. You can use the date on the certificate of service to calculate when your responses are due. If the Request for Admissions was served by U.S. mail you have 7 extra days to respond. URCP 6(c).

You can use the form Answers to Request for Admissions in the forms section below to respond to the requests. For each numbered request you must rewrite the request and then say whether you:

  • Object to the request
  • Admit that everything in the request is true
  • Deny that everything in the request is true
  • Cannot honestly admit or deny the request. If you cannot admit or deny the request, you must provide an explanation

If you don't have the information necessary to answer the request you are required to review your records and gather more information in order to try to answer the request.

Do not file your Answers to Request for Admissions with the court. Instead, send your Answers to the other parties in your case and keep a copy for your records. File a Certificate of Service of Answers with the court and send a copy to the other party or parties in the case.

If you need help responding to a Request for Admissions, see our page on Finding Legal Help to explore your options.

Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 36.

Forms

The forms you need depend on your case. What is your case about?

  • 1210FA
  • 1021FA

  • 1210GE
  • 1021GE