Small claims answer and contestation (SJ-871E online) — help preparing your answers

Category and limits

Help preparing the official form · category B · practice area : Consumer & small claims · offered in case files of type : Other (small claims, neighbours…), Business, Consumer & small claims, Civil litigation

Help preparing the official form: the tool prepares your answers, line by line, and links the official form. You check each line, transfer it onto the official form, sign it and handle any oath, notification and filing yourself. The tool guarantees no outcome.

Official form

SJ-871E (formulaire en ligne); SJ-840, SJ-839, SJ-1002 (SJ-840 (2023-06); SJ-839 (2021-03); SJ-1002 (2018-01)) ↗

The SJ-871E is an online form (screens not read) and Québec government content may not be reproduced without prior authorization (quebec.ca “Droit d’auteur”, read on 2026-10-21).

What the provisions read require

• C.C.P., arts. 546-547 — Answer within 20 days (art. 546); contest “en précisant les motifs de la contestation, y compris celui de la prescription” (art. 547, French text). (LégisQuébec — Code de procédure civile, C-25.01, read on 2026-10-21)
• C.C.P., arts. 549-550 — Exhibits within 10 days (art. 549); counterclaim from the same or a related source that “n’excède pas 15 000 $” (art. 550) — 13-02. (LégisQuébec — Code de procédure civile, C-25.01, read on 2026-10-21)
• C.C.P., art. 554 — Witnesses: name, reason, subject of the testimony; 30 days before the hearing (13-02). (LégisQuébec — Code de procédure civile, C-25.01, read on 2026-10-21)
• Québec.ca, Demande reconventionnelle — The counterclaim is made in the SJ-871E; for written comments on it “Il n’existe pas de formulaire” (13-02). (Gouvernement du Québec — Demande reconventionnelle (petites créances), read on 2026-10-21)

Time limits read

• Answer within 20 days (art. 546; Québec.ca); exhibits within 10 days (art. 549); witnesses 30 days before the hearing (art. 554).

Exhibits and documents

• Application received and its exhibits; your exhibits D-1, D-2… (SJ-840).

To verify (not read or not settled)

• Screens of the online SJ-871E and the fees: NOT READ.

Help preparing the official online form (category B). Arts. 546-550 and 554 C.C.P. are quoted or summarized as read by research 13-02; the Québec.ca pages were read on 2026-10-15 and answered HTTP 200 on 2026-10-21. Québec statutes and most Québec sources linked here were read in French; English wording in this guide is an unofficial summary unless an official English text is linked.

Preuve en main is a preparation and legal-information tool. It gives no legal advice, replaces neither a lawyer nor the official form, and guarantees no outcome.