Short answer. Yes. Where an answer fails to tender an issue or admits the material allegations of the complaint, the court may, on your motion, render judgment on the pleadings — no trial needed. The exception: in actions for declaration of nullity or annulment of marriage or legal separation, the facts must still be proved.
What the law says
Where an answer fails to tender an issue, or otherwise admits the material allegations of the adverse party's pleading, the court may, on motion of that party, direct judgment on such pleading.
Rule 34, Section 1 — Judgment on the pleadings. Read the full provision →
What the law says
in actions for declaration of nullity or annulment of marriage or for legal separation, the material facts alleged in the complaint shall always be proved
Rule 34, Section 1 — Judgment on the pleadings. Read the full provision →
Why no trial is needed
A trial exists to resolve disputed facts. When the answer fails to tender an issue, or otherwise admits the material allegations of the adverse party's pleading, there is nothing left to try: the parties agree on what happened, and the only question remaining is what the law makes of it. Judgment on the pleadings lets the court answer that legal question directly from the complaint and the answer, sparing everyone the expense and delay of proving facts nobody contests.
An answer can admit by saying too little
An answer tenders an issue when it genuinely joins battle — when it specifically denies the material allegations and puts the plaintiff to proof. An answer can fail that test in more ways than an outright admission. One that quarrels only with side details while leaving the core allegations unanswered, or that offers denials so vague they engage nothing, may be treated as not tendering an issue at all. So read the answer you received closely: what it concedes may matter less than what it never actually disputes.
The court acts on motion, not on its own
The rule says the court may direct judgment on motion of that party — the party whose allegations stand admitted. In an ordinary case, then, the step is yours to take: file a motion for judgment on the pleadings identifying the admissions and explaining why nothing remains for trial. Note also that the rule says the court may, not must — the court still examines whether the pleadings really leave no genuine issue before it decides the case on them.
The marriage-case exception
The rule carves out one family of cases entirely: in actions for declaration of nullity or annulment of marriage or for legal separation, the material facts alleged in the complaint shall always be proved. Even a spouse who admits every allegation cannot hand the petitioner a judgment. Marriage involves an interest of the State that goes beyond the parties, and the requirement of proof guards against spouses colluding to manufacture a ground. In those cases there is no shortcut: evidence must be presented however cooperative the other side is.