Minn. Stat. » Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure · Rule 4 (Service)
Minnesota Statutes

Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.042 (2026)

Service of the Complaint

✓ current as of May 2026
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If the defendant shall appear within 14 days after the completion of service by publication, the plaintiff, within 7 days after such appearance, shall serve the complaint, by copy, on the defendant or the defendant's attorney. The defendant shall then have at least 21 days in which to answer the same.

(Amended effective January, 1, 2020.)

Advisory Committee Comment - 2019 Amendments

Rule 4.042 is amended as part of the extensive amendments made to the timing provisions of the rules. These amendments implement the adoption of a standard "day" for counting deadlines under the rules - counting all days regardless of the length of the period and standardizing the time periods, where practicable, to a 7-, 14-, 21- or 28-day schedule.

The amendment to Rule 4.042 also lengthens the time to respond to a Complaint served following service of the Summons by publication, to 21 days. This is the same period a party has following other forms of service of the Complaint, and there is no reason to require a shorter period. See Rule 12.01. This amendment is intended to obviate at least some motions for extension of the time to answer that are encountered under the shorter deadline in the previous rule.