Whats the sailors/soldiers act and how could it protect me froma a civil lawsuit?
im in the miltitary being and am getting sued in a civil lawsuit
Answers:
This is the actually called the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act. It does not allow a plaintiff to get a judgment by default against a serviceman/woman. So, if I file a lawsuit and the defendant doesn't answer, I'm entitled to a default judgment for everything I'm asking for in the lawsuit. However, I cannot get a default judgment without filing an affidavit that swears the plaintiff is not a member of the armed forces. In your example, it protects you from judgment while you're serving.
Going from memory, it basically says that a court cannot dismiss an action (or can prevent it from being filed at all -- I'm not sure) while you are deployed or out of station.
So, it protects you while you are somewhere else from the penalties of not being there ot defend it. But it only applies until you return to your station.
It doesn't protect you from a lawsuit, it protects you in that it stops the court from entering a default judgment against you if you were, say, in Iraq or being trained in another state, and couldn't appear in court. If you get a summons and you are able to go to court, you still have to do so.
It gives you protection against anyone taking you to civil court in abstentia while you are deployed.If anyone has a case,they must wait for you to return to the States.They cannot summarily take you to court and have a finding while you are not able to be there.
It also gives you the power to push back if you are pushed.Such as by pushy landlords and lawyers.It is a big hammer if you need one.Do not be shy in using it.
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