Days or weeks

Someone has handed you a legal document.

Almost every one of these starts a clock. Before you decide what to do about it, find out what it is and when that clock runs out. Those two facts change everything else.

Do this before you read the rest

Get the document in front of you and look for a date or a number of days. Most of them say, somewhere on the first page or in a box near the end, how long you have. Write it down along with the day it was given to you.

The clock usually runs from the day you were served, not the date printed at the top. A document dated a fortnight ago that arrived this morning may have given you the full period or almost none of it, depending on how it was served. Work out the service date first.

If you find a deadline and it is close, stop reading and put it in your phone now, twice. Once on the real date and once a week before. People do not usually miss deadlines because they did not know. They miss them because they knew in the first week and stopped thinking about it in the third.

Work out what you are holding

These are the ones people are usually given

Find the one that matches what is printed on your document. If two of them look close, assume the more urgent one until you know better.

A letter of demand

On a law firm's or a company's letterhead. Says you owe money, gives a figure, and threatens proceedings if you do not pay by a date.

What it is: Not a court document. Nobody has sued you yet. It is a warning, and often a negotiating position.
Your clock: Whatever date they have set. It is their deadline, not a court's, so it can be negotiated.
If you ignore it: They may start a case, which turns this into one of the documents below. Ignoring it does not make it go away, and responding early is cheaper than responding late.

A creditor's statutory demand

Addressed to a company, not a person. Usually headed Form 509H, refers to the Corporations Act, and demands payment of a debt within 21 days.

What it is: A formal demand on a company for a debt above the statutory minimum, currently $4,000. It is the step a creditor takes before applying to wind the company up.
Your clock: 21 days from service. The deadline to apply to set the demand aside cannot be extended by anyone, including a court. The separate period to comply can be, but only by a court order or by making that application.
If you ignore it: After 21 days the company is presumed insolvent, and the creditor can apply to have it wound up. Disputing the debt later is far harder than disputing it inside the 21 days, and s 459S may stop you raising the same grounds at all.
Full guide: Someone is trying to wind up your company has a deadline calculator, the options, and what voluntary administration does and does not do.

Something that starts a case against you

A statement of claim, originating application, summons or originating process. Carries a court's name and seal, a case number, and names you as defendant or respondent.

What it is: A case has been commenced against you. The court now has a file with your name on it.
Your clock: A set period to file a defence or an appearance, stated on the document. Commonly around 28 days, but it varies between courts and states, so read yours rather than assuming.
If you ignore it: Judgment can be entered against you without a hearing and without you being there. That judgment is then enforceable against your money and property.

A notice telling you when to attend

Headed notice of hearing, notice of listing, or notice of filing and hearing. Gives a date, a time, and a courtroom or a link.

What it is: Not a deadline to file something. A date to be somewhere.
Your clock: The hearing date itself. Anything you want the court to read should be filed well before it, not on the day.
If you ignore it: The matter can be dealt with in your absence. If the date is within two days, go to the 48 hours guide.

A subpoena

Requires you to produce documents, to attend and give evidence, or both. Names a return date. Often served on people who are not parties to the case at all.

What it is: A court order directed at you personally, even if the case is nothing to do with you.
Your clock: The return date on its face, and it is firm.
If you ignore it: Not complying with a subpoena is a contempt of court, which is treated seriously and can be punished. If you cannot comply, or think it is unreasonable, say so to the court before the date rather than after.

Something enforcing a judgment

A garnishee notice, writ, warrant, or notice to attend for examination about your finances.

What it is: A judgment already exists against you and somebody is now collecting on it. This is the stage after a case has been decided or entered by default.
Your clock: Often very short, and some of these take effect without further notice to you.
If you ignore it: Money can be taken from your bank account or your wages, or property seized. If you never knew about the original case, that is important and worth advice quickly, because a default judgment can sometimes be set aside.

A tribunal notice

From a tribunal rather than a court. NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, the ART, the Fair Work Commission and others.

What it is: A dispute in a body designed to be used without lawyers. Procedure is more informal and in many tribunals you need permission to be represented at all.
Your clock: Usually stated, and often shorter than a court's. Some tribunals have very short application periods that are strictly applied.
If you ignore it: Orders can be made in your absence, and tribunal orders are enforceable like a court's.

Working out the real deadline

Four things people get wrong, in the order they get them wrong.

Count from service, not from the date on the document. The date at the top is when someone wrote it.
Posted documents are usually treated as served some days after posting, not on the day they land in your hands. That can help you or hurt you, and it is worth pinning down rather than guessing.
Check whether the period is in calendar days or business days. The difference over a long weekend is real.
A deadline to file is not a deadline to post. If something must be filed by a date, it needs to be accepted by the registry by then, and electronic filing systems have cut-off times.

Worth doing today

Ring the registry and ask them to confirm what has been filed in the matter and by when you need to respond. Registry staff cannot give legal advice, and will tell you so, but they can and do confirm dates and what is on the file. That call takes ten minutes and removes most of the guesswork on this page.

If the date has already gone

Read this rather than deciding it is over. It usually is not, but it gets worse the longer you leave it.

Courts have power to extend time, to set aside judgments entered in someone's absence, and to allow a late filing. None of it is automatic, and you generally have to explain the delay and show you have something worth saying. What sinks these applications is almost never the original mistake. It is the months afterwards where nothing happened.

The statutory demand is the exception that matters. The 21 days to apply to set it aside cannot be extended, by agreement or by a court. If a company has passed it, the question is no longer how to dispute the demand but how to deal with the winding up application that follows, and that needs advice quickly. Start at winding up and voluntary administration.

If you never received the original documents at all, say so early and be specific about why. An address you had moved out of, mail that was never redirected, a registered office that was out of date. That is a different explanation from having received it and done nothing, and courts treat it differently.

What to do this week

Write the deadline in your phone twice, on the day and a week before.
Ring the registry and confirm what is on the file and what is due.
Put every document you have about the dispute in one folder, in date order.
Write down what happened, in order, while you remember it. Dates, names, what was said. You will need this for anything you file, and it is much harder to reconstruct in a month.
Get advice, even one appointment. A community legal centre, a legal aid line, or a lawyer for a single consultation. Going in knowing what your document is and when it is due makes that appointment far more useful.

This page is general information about how these documents work. It is not legal advice about your case, and rules differ between courts, tribunals and states. Where this page and your document disagree, your document wins.