In any family court case, the case begins by personally serving the opposing party with a summons and a copy of the pleadings for the case. Once someone is served with the summons, they have 30 days from the date of service to file an Answer with the Court. If they do not respond within 30 days then the party that filed the case may proceed with what is called a default hearing. The default hearing is a hearing with the Judge where the petitioning party asks the Court to find the responsive party in default and to grant the relief requested in the petition without giving them any more time to respond.