How to Postpone a Small Claims Hearing in Massachusetts

Your hearing date arrives and you have a scheduling conflict, a witness who cannot make it, or new evidence that needs more time to gather. Massachusetts small claims courts allow postponements — but they do not hand them out automatically.

What Is a Continuance?

A continuance is a court-approved postponement of your scheduled hearing to a later date. In Massachusetts small claims sessions — whether District Court, Boston Municipal Court, or Housing Court — the clerk-magistrate controls the calendar. You cannot simply skip the hearing and assume it will be rescheduled.

If the plaintiff does not appear, the court dismisses the case without prejudice. If the defendant does not appear after proper service, the court can enter a default judgment. Neither outcome is a postponement — both have real consequences.

How to Request a Continuance

File a written Motion for Continuance with the clerk's office as soon as you know you need more time. The motion must show "good cause," which generally means circumstances outside your control that prevent you from attending or presenting your case on the scheduled date.

Reasons courts typically accept:

• A medical emergency with documentation (hospital discharge papers, doctor's note)
• A previously scheduled obligation that cannot be moved (military orders, another court date in a different case)
• A key witness who is unavailable on the hearing date
• Recently discovered evidence that requires additional time to obtain (records requests to banks, insurers, or government agencies)

Reasons courts typically reject:

• General inconvenience or a preference for a different date
• Forgetting about the hearing
• Wanting more time to "prepare" without a specific obstacle
• Work schedule conflicts with no effort to arrange time off

Timing Matters

Submit your motion well before the hearing date. Walking in the morning of trial and asking for a postponement puts the clerk-magistrate in a difficult position — the other party took time off work, arranged childcare, and possibly traveled to get there. Courts are far more receptive to requests filed well in advance.

If the other side files a counterclaim so late that it prejudices your ability to present your case, the court must grant a continuance if you request one under the Uniform Small Claims Rules. That is one of the few situations where a postponement is guaranteed rather than discretionary.

What Happens After You File the Motion

Filing a continuance request does not automatically excuse your attendance. You must still appear at the scheduled hearing unless the clerk-magistrate explicitly issues a postponement order beforehand. If you file a motion, hear nothing back, and skip the hearing, you risk a default judgment (defendants) or a dismissal (plaintiffs).

Check with the clerk's office a few days after filing to confirm whether your motion was granted. Some courts communicate the decision by mail; others post it to the online docket.

Practical Tips

Attach supporting documentation to your motion. A bare request with no explanation is easy to deny. A motion that includes a doctor's note, a subpoena return showing a witness is unavailable, or a records-request confirmation showing a two-week processing time gives the clerk-magistrate something concrete to work with.

If the other party agrees to the postponement, note that in your motion — courts grant stipulated continuances more readily than contested ones.

The complete Massachusetts filing guide walks through every stage of the small claims process, including what to prepare before your hearing date arrives.

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