Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

my ex is taking me to court for custody of our child I asked him what the court date is and he said there wasn't one he says he is going to have me served on Monday that I have to sign it and send it back to the court then the court will send us a date is this possable I thought summons had a date on it??

Response 1: Summons has a time frame for the person summonsed to respond to the complaint. Usually 20 days exclusive of the day of service. If you do not respond within the time frame indicated on the Summons, you may be defaulted. This means that your ex may get everything that he is seeking from the Court. However, if you respond within the deadline AFTER service on you, the Court would schedule the case for hearing and you would be sent a notice of the hearing so that you can appear and tell the Court why your ex' s requests must not be granted.

I heard I could not sign and that means I deny him the court case. can someone help explain??

Response 2: That is not true. You do not have to sign for service in order for the service on you to be valid. The Sheriff/process server can leave the Summons and a copy of the complaint at your last known address and then mail another copy to the same address and then file Certification of Service/Return of Service with the Court as having served you. This would be deemed as proper service in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

It is not unusual to get a summons and a complaint without a court date. You will be sent a court date at a later time. Also, by not signing, you will not be able to avoid the case. If you refuse to signed, there are alternative methods of service that will suffice to keep the case going.