CPLR § 1203

Default judgment · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 1203. Default judgment. No judgment by default may be entered against an infant or a person judicially declared to be incompetent unless his representative appeared in the action or twenty days have expired since appointment of a guardian ad litem for him. No default judgment may be entered against an adult incapable of adequately protecting his rights for whom a guardian ad litem has been appointed unless twenty days have expired since the appointment.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/1203

In plain English

A protected person cannot immediately lose by default.

A child or judicially declared incompetent person may face a default judgment only if their representative appeared, or 20 days have passed since a guardian ad litem was appointed. ★
An adult unable to protect their rights adequately who has a guardian ad litem may face default only after 20 days from that appointment. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Clerk in Plain English; Volume 2 — The Court Clerk: Civil Practice Law and Rules; Volume 1 — Your Career: Civil Practice in Plain English.