If a motion to dismiss is not filed, will the court dismiss on its own motion?

If a complaint is served to a defendant, and the case lacks jurisdiction, does the defendant have to file a motion to dismiss or will the court rule on it on its own motion?If a motion to dismiss is not filed, will the court dismiss on its own motion?If you are talking about personal jurisdiction over you:

Be careful. If the court lacks personal jurisdiction over you and you appear in court to say that, you might give the court personal jurisdiction by showing up at court. It depends on the jurisdiction's laws, but generally a person can waive personal jurisdiction, and showing up in court is one way of implicitly waiving it unless the appearance is to contest personal jurisdiction. However, if you think that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over you and therefore choose not to show up, you are taking a big risk because if the court (contrary to your belief) finds it does have jurisdiction, it will enter a default judgment against you when you fail to show for court, and you won't be able to later argue the case on its merits.



You need to find out if the jurisdiction allows "special appearances" solely for contesting jurisdiction. If it does, you need to find out if the motion contesting personal jurisdiction must be filed separately, or if it must be a part of the initial answer pleadings. Some jurisdictions require it to be separate, some require it to be in the initial response pleadings, and some don't allow special appearances at all (in those jurisdictions, you either show up, thus giving the court personal jurisdiction, or you don't show up, thus taking a chance on whether or not a default judgment against you would be enforceable by other courts due to lack of personal jurisdiction).



You should really get a lawyer to check into these things, because making a mistake like this at the outset of the case can make it literally impossible for you to win, and you still might be on the hook for a judgment against you. I will warn you that many states now have long-arm statutes that give them personal jurisdiction over people in a surprising number of situations; some even specifically state that they have personal jurisdiction so long as it wouldn't be barred by the US Constitution, basically saying that any time the state could have personal jurisdiction, it does have personal jurisdiction.



If you are talking about the court lacking subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case, we couldn't give you any decent advice on that without knowing the nature of the claim and the court involved.



Either way, it is very rare for a court to dismiss a claim for lack of jurisdiction without a motion first being filed.If a motion to dismiss is not filed, will the court dismiss on its own motion?if you are a defendant in a court you need to be in court or have your lawyer represent you to ask for a dismissal. either way you need to be there or be represented otherwise a warrant will be issued and you could lose a case you might otherwise win. if the case is dropped by the DA then the court will notify you. call the court where you are to appear and see if it was droppedIf a motion to dismiss is not filed, will the court dismiss on its own motion?Not likely. They obviously did not know that they did not have jurisdiction or you would never have been served. The only way to make it go away would be to file.If a motion to dismiss is not filed, will the court dismiss on its own motion?
I assume that you are talking about a civil case, because the court won't dismiss a criminal case unless the state files a motion to dismiss.



No, the defendant must make the motion to dismiss. Usually it is in the form of a "Motion for Summary Judgment", where specific responses to the alleged matter are addressed. Read the rules. If you don't answer the court will presume the petition is valid and make an order in favor of the Petitioner.



Good Luck