diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/deser/CaseClassDeserializer.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/deser/CaseClassDeserializer.scala
index a383419..8c94eab 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/deser/CaseClassDeserializer.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/deser/CaseClassDeserializer.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class CaseClassDeserializer(config: DeserializationConfig,
                             classLoader: ClassLoader) extends JsonDeserializer[Object] {
   private val isSnakeCase = javaType.getRawClass.isAnnotationPresent(classOf[JsonSnakeCase])
   private val params = CaseClassSigParser.parse(javaType.getRawClass, config.getTypeFactory, classLoader).map {
-    case (name, jt) => (if (isSnakeCase) snakeCase(name) else name, jt)
+    case (name, jt, defaultValue) => (if (isSnakeCase) snakeCase(name) else name, jt, defaultValue)
   }.toArray
   private val paramTypes = params.map { _._2.getRawClass }.toList
   private val constructor = javaType.getRawClass.getConstructors.find { c =>
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class CaseClassDeserializer(config: DeserializationConfig,
     val node = jp.readValueAsTree
 
     val values = new ArrayBuffer[AnyRef]
-    for ((paramName, paramType) <- params) {
+    for ((paramName, paramType, paramDefault) <- params) {
       val field = node.get(paramName)
       val tp = new TreeTraversingParser(if (field == null) NullNode.getInstance else field, jp.getCodec)
       val value = if (paramType.getRawClass == classOf[Option[_]]) {
@@ -63,9 +63,14 @@ class CaseClassDeserializer(config: DeserializationConfig,
 
       if (field != null || value != null) {
         values += value
+      } else {
+        // see if a default value was supplied
+        paramDefault match {
+          case Some(v) => values += v
+          case None =>
+        }
       }
 
-
       if (values.size == params.size) {
         return constructor.newInstance(values.toArray: _*).asInstanceOf[Object]
       }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/util/CaseClassSigParser.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/util/CaseClassSigParser.scala
index 3895ea8..5b56ea1 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/util/CaseClassSigParser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/util/CaseClassSigParser.scala
@@ -51,6 +51,18 @@ object CaseClassSigParser {
   protected def simpleName(klass: Class[_]) =
     klass.getName.split("\\$").last
 
+  implicit def class2companion(clazz: Class[_]) = new {
+    def companionClass(classLoader: ClassLoader): Class[_] = {
+      val path = if (clazz.getName.endsWith("$")) clazz.getName else "%s$".format(clazz.getName)
+      Some(Class.forName(path, true, classLoader)).getOrElse {
+        throw new Error("Could not resolve clazz='%s'".
+          format(path))
+      }
+    }
+
+    def companionObject(classLoader: ClassLoader) = companionClass(classLoader).getField("MODULE$").get(null)
+  }
+
   protected def findSym[A](clazz: Class[A], classLoader: ClassLoader) = {
     val name = simpleName(clazz)
     val pss = parseScalaSig(clazz, classLoader)
@@ -81,12 +93,26 @@ object CaseClassSigParser {
 
   def parse[A](clazz: Class[A], factory: TypeFactory, classLoader: ClassLoader) = {
     findSym(clazz, classLoader).children.filter(c => c.isCaseAccessor && !c.isPrivate)
-      .flatMap { ms =>
+      .zipWithIndex.map { case (ms,idx) => {
         ms.asInstanceOf[MethodSymbol].infoType match {
-          case NullaryMethodType(t: TypeRefType) => ms.name -> typeRef2JavaType(t, factory, classLoader) :: Nil
+          case NullaryMethodType(t: TypeRefType) => {
+
+            // try and find the field's default
+            val companionClass = clazz.companionClass(classLoader)
+            val companionObject = clazz.companionObject(classLoader)
+            val defaultMethod = try {
+              Some(companionClass.getMethod("apply$default$%d".format(idx + 1)))
+            }
+            catch {
+              case _ => None // indicates no default value was supplied
+            }
+            val defaultValue = defaultMethod.map(m => Some(m.invoke(companionObject))).getOrElse(None)
+
+            Tuple3(ms.name, typeRef2JavaType(t, factory, classLoader), defaultValue) :: Nil
+          }
           case _ => Nil
         }
-      }
+      }}.flatten
   }
 
   protected def typeRef2JavaType(ref: TypeRefType, factory: TypeFactory, classLoader: ClassLoader): JavaType = {
diff --git a/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/CaseClassSupportSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/CaseClassSupportSpec.scala
index 7a562f5..0786394 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/CaseClassSupportSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/CaseClassSupportSpec.scala
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ class CaseClassSupportSpec extends Spec {
     }
   }
 
+  class `A case class with a default field` {
+    @Test def `is parsable from an incomplete JSON object` = {
+      parse[CaseClassWithDefaultString]("""{"id":1}""").must(be(CaseClassWithDefaultString(1, "Coda")))
+      parse[CaseClassWithDefaultInt]("""{"id":1}""").must(be(CaseClassWithDefaultInt(1, 42)))
+    }
+  }
+
   class `A case class with lazy fields` {
     @Test def `generates a JSON object with those fields evaluated` = {
       generate(CaseClassWithLazyVal(1)).must(be("""{"id":1,"woo":"yeah"}"""))
diff --git a/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/ExampleCaseClasses.scala b/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/ExampleCaseClasses.scala
index c3b666f..ebefbb2 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/ExampleCaseClasses.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/com/codahale/jerkson/tests/ExampleCaseClasses.scala
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import com.codahale.jerkson.JsonSnakeCase
 
 case class CaseClass(id: Long, name: String)
 
+case class CaseClassWithDefaultString(id: Long, name: String = "Coda")
+case class CaseClassWithDefaultInt(id: Long, answer: Int = 42)
+
 case class CaseClassWithLazyVal(id: Long) {
   lazy val woo = "yeah"
 }