How to Complete and File Your Georgia Magistrate Court Answer Form

If you’ve been sued in Georgia magistrate court, you respond using the Answer and Counterclaim of Defendant form, known as MAG-10-03, and you have 30 days from the date you were served to file it with the clerk.¹ Miss that window and you’re in default, which can hand the plaintiff a judgment without a trial. The Georgia magistrate court answer form is short and designed for people without lawyers, but what you write on it controls what defenses you can raise at the hearing.

Where to Get the Form and What to Have Ready

Download MAG-10-03 for free from the Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges website, or pick one up at your county’s magistrate clerk’s office.² The council also runs an interactive tool that asks you questions and prints out a completed form.³

Before you start writing, pull the Statement of Claim that was served on you. The header on your answer has to match the court’s file exactly, so you’ll copy the civil action file number and the names of all parties straight from the claim. Have these ready too:

Your current mailing address. The statute requires your answer to include the address where you want to receive your hearing notice.¹
A daytime phone number for the clerk to reach you about scheduling.
Any contracts, receipts, payment records, photos, or correspondence that back up your side. You won’t attach these to the answer, but reviewing them now helps you write specifically and prepares you for the hearing.

You don’t need a notary. Georgia law says verification of an answer is not required in magistrate court.¹ The form does include a sworn-statement block with a notary line, but you don’t have to complete it for a standard answer.⁴ The exception: if the plaintiff attached a sworn affidavit to their claim, you may be required to verify your answer the same way.⁵

Filling Out the Form

Fill in the county, date, case number, and the names and addresses of both parties at the top, copying directly from the Statement of Claim. Below the header, the form has four numbered checkboxes. Check only the ones that apply.⁴

Box 1, “I admit the claims of the Plaintiff.” Check this if you agree you owe what the plaintiff says. The case isn’t over immediately, but you’re telling the court there’s no dispute about liability.
Box 2, “I request a payment schedule.” If you can’t pay the full amount at once, this asks the court to set up installments. You can check it alongside Box 1.
Box 3, “I deny the claim of Plaintiff(s).” This is the one most defendants check. Below it, you write a brief explanation of why you don’t owe the money or disagree with the amount.
Box 4, “I counterclaim against the Plaintiff(s).” Use this if you believe the plaintiff owes you money arising from the same situation.

If you check Box 3, the form gives you space to explain. The statute says your answer should be “concise” and “free from technical requirements,” so you don’t need legal jargon.¹ You do need specifics. If you already paid, say when and how. If the plaintiff overcharged you, state what the correct amount should be. If goods or services were never delivered, say that plainly. Attach additional sheets if you run out of room.

A vague “I disagree” doesn’t give the judge anything to work with. Dates, dollar amounts, and references to specific agreements or transactions are what carry weight.

Affirmative Defenses You Have to Raise Now

A denial says the plaintiff’s version didn’t happen. An affirmative defense says that even if their version is true, there’s a legal reason you don’t have to pay. Georgia’s Civil Practice Act lists several affirmative defenses that must be raised in your answer or you lose them.⁶ The ones that come up most often in magistrate cases:

Statute of limitations. The plaintiff waited too long to sue. Written contracts carry a six-year statute of limitations in Georgia; oral agreements, four years.
Payment. You already paid the debt, in full or in part.
Fraud. The plaintiff tricked you into the agreement.
Failure of consideration. The plaintiff didn’t deliver the goods or perform the service.
Discharge in bankruptcy. The debt was wiped out in a prior bankruptcy.
Accord and satisfaction. You and the plaintiff already settled, and you performed your end.

MAG-10-03 doesn’t have a dedicated checkbox for affirmative defenses, so you raise them in the explanation under Box 3. Be specific: “I believe this claim is barred by the statute of limitations because the contract was signed on [date] and no suit was filed within six years.” If you mislabel a defense as a counterclaim or vice versa, the court can treat it as properly labeled when fairness requires.⁶

Adding a Counterclaim

Check Box 4 if the plaintiff owes you money arising from the same transaction or event. Georgia makes this a compulsory counterclaim, so if you don’t raise it at or before the hearing, you lose the right to bring it as a separate lawsuit.⁷ The form asks for a brief statement of facts and the dollar amount you’re seeking. Magistrate court handles claims up to $15,000, so your counterclaim can’t exceed that limit unless you want the whole case transferred to state or superior court.⁸

A counterclaim carries its own filing fee, which varies by county. Check with the clerk before filing. You’ll also need to serve the plaintiff with a copy of the counterclaim, which follows the same service rules as the answer.

Filing the Answer

The most reliable method is filing in person at the magistrate clerk’s office in the county where the case was filed. Hand delivery means the form is date-stamped and in the file before your deadline runs. Mail works too, but what counts is when the clerk receives it, not when you mailed it. If it arrives after the 30-day window, you’re in default regardless of the postmark.⁹ If you mail it, send it early.

Some Georgia counties accept electronic filing through the Odyssey eFileGA portal, which is available any time of day from a web browser.¹⁰ The system calculates fees, emails status updates, and returns a file-stamped copy once the clerk accepts it. Not every magistrate court participates, so confirm with your local clerk before relying on it.

You can also present your answer orally to the judge or clerk, who will write it down for you.¹ It’s better to file a written answer when you can. You have time to organize your thoughts, and there’s a clear record of exactly what you said.

A standard answer typically doesn’t carry a filing fee. A counterclaim does, and the amount varies by county.

Serving the Plaintiff

After filing with the clerk, send a copy of your answer to the plaintiff or their attorney. The Georgia Magistrate Council provides a Certificate of Service form, MAG-10-06, for this. On it, you check whether you’ve already mailed the copy or will do so upon filing, identify the document, and list the plaintiff’s name and mailing address along with your own contact information and signature.¹¹ File the completed certificate with the clerk so the court has proof the other side was notified.

Longer Deadline If You Signed a Waiver of Service

If you signed a waiver of service instead of being formally served by a sheriff or process server, your deadline is 60 days from the date the waiver notice was sent, not 30.⁹

If You Miss the 30 Days

Missing the deadline puts you in default, but you still have options before a judgment is entered. Georgia law gives you two paths to reopen it.

The first is automatic. Within 15 days after the default, you can file your answer and pay the court costs. The clerk must accept it, and the default is opened as a matter of right.¹

The second path applies after those 15 days but before a final judgment is entered. At that point it’s no longer automatic. The judge decides. You have to show, under oath, why you missed the deadline, present a defense with genuine merit, and be ready to proceed to trial immediately.¹

If neither path works, the consequences depend on the claim. For a specific dollar amount (liquidated damages), the plaintiff gets a default judgment without proving anything further. For open-ended damages, the plaintiff still has to prove the amount at a hearing, and you can attend and present evidence on the damages question, though not on whether you’re liable.¹

What Happens After You File

Once the answer is on file and the plaintiff has been served, the clerk schedules a hearing and mails notice to both sides.¹² Some counties require mediation before setting a trial date, and the clerk will tell you if that applies to your case.

Bring everything that supports your answer to the hearing: contracts, payment receipts, photographs, correspondence, and other relevant documents. If you need a witness who won’t come voluntarily, request a subpoena through the clerk’s office ahead of time.¹³ Written statements from witnesses who don’t show up may not be accepted, so plan on getting your witnesses there in person. Stick to the specific points you raised in your answer. If you listed the statute of limitations, be ready to walk through the timeline. If you filed a counterclaim, bring documentation of your own damages.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 15-10-43 – Statement of Claim; Service of Process; Answer to Claim; Default Judgments; Opening of Default; Relief in Magistrate Court
2
Georgia Magistrate Court. Forms
3
Georgia Magistrate Council. Georgia Magistrate Council
4
Georgia Magistrate Council. Answer Counter-claim of Defendant
5
Justia. Georgia Code 9-10-111 – When Verified Answer Required; by Whom Made for Corporate Defendant
6
Justia. Georgia Code 9-11-8 – General Rules of Pleading
7
Justia. Georgia Code 15-10-45 – Compulsory and Permissive Counterclaims
8
Justia. Georgia Code 15-10-2 – General Jurisdiction
9
Gwinnett County Courts. Civil Filing Claims/Answers – Forms
10
Odyssey eFileGA. Odyssey eFileGA – Court E-Filing Solution for Georgia
11
Georgia Magistrate Council. Certificate of Service to Opposing Party
12
Georgia Courts. Uniform Rules Magistrate Courts of the State of Georgia
13
Fulton County Magistrate Court. Small Claims