Responding to a California complaint: when the 30 days really starts, and what a demurrer does to it

California's answer deadline is 30 days. The number is the easy part. What trips people is that the 30 days runs from the day service is complete, and each method of service completes on a different day.

What the summons has to tell you

CCP 412.20(a)(3) requires the summons to contain "[a] direction that the defendant file with the court a written pleading in response to the complaint within 30 days after summons is served on the defendant."

412.20(a)(4) requires a notice that unless the defendant responds, "their default will be entered upon application by the plaintiff, and the plaintiff may apply to the court for the relief demanded in the complaint, which could result in garnishment of wages, taking of money or property, or other relief."

412.20(a)(6) requires a boldface legend at the very top, in English and Spanish: "Notice! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days."

A summons in a form approved by the Judicial Council is deemed to comply. Counties may by ordinance require the legend in additional languages, and 412.20(d) directs the Judicial Council to create, by January 1, 2027, a single mandatory summons form for residential actions under Section 1161 that carries the same information in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean.

When service is complete — the part that moves the date

Personal delivery — CCP 415.10. Complete "at the time of such delivery." The date of delivery goes on the face of the summons copy, though service without that date is still valid and effective. Served in hand on the 1st, the response is due on the 31st.

Substituted service — CCP 415.20. Two situations, one result.

Under 415.20(a), in lieu of personal delivery on the persons specified in Sections 416.10 through 416.50, a summons may be served by leaving a copy during usual office hours at the person's office — or at their usual mailing address, other than a post office box — with the person apparently in charge, and thereafter mailing a copy by first-class mail to the place where the copies were left. When left at a mailing address, it must be left with someone at least 18 who is informed of the contents.

Under 415.20(b), if the summons can't with reasonable diligence be personally delivered, it may be left at the person's dwelling house, usual place of abode, usual place of business or usual mailing address, in the presence of a competent member of the household or a person apparently in charge, at least 18 years old and informed of the contents — and thereafter mailed to that place.

Both end with the same sentence: "Service of a summons in this manner is deemed complete on the 10th day after the mailing."

That is where the "30 days becomes 40" idea comes from, and it's close enough to be useful: substituted service effectively yields 10 extra days, measured from the mailing, not from the day the papers were left.

415.20(c) adds a narrow case — where the only address reasonably known is a private mailbox at a commercial mail receiving agency, service may be effected on the first delivery attempt by leaving the copies with the agency.

Mail with acknowledgment — CCP 415.30. The plaintiff mails the summons and complaint with two copies of a notice and acknowledgment and a prepaid return envelope. Service is complete "on the date a written acknowledgement of receipt of summons is executed," if it's returned to the sender.

If the recipient doesn't complete and return the acknowledgment within 20 days of the mailing, they become liable for the reasonable expenses of serving them another way, and the court, on motion, "shall award the party such expenses" except for good cause shown. Ignoring the form doesn't complete service — it shifts costs.

Out of state — CCP 415.40. A summons may be served on a person outside California in any manner this article provides, or by first-class mail, postage prepaid, requiring a return receipt. Service by that form of mail "is deemed complete on the 10th day after such mailing."

The extension in CCP 1013 — and where it doesn't reach

CCP 1013(a) extends response periods when a paper is served by mail: 5 calendar days if the place of address and place of mailing are both within California, 10 if either is outside California but within the United States, 12 for a Secretary of State address confidentiality program address, and 20 if either is outside the United States. Overnight delivery and fax add two court days under 1013(c) and (e).

Two limits are written into the statute. The extension expressly does not extend the time for filing a notice of intention to move for new trial, a notice of intention to move to vacate under Section 663a, or a notice of appeal. And it applies "in the absence of a specific exception provided for by this section or other statute or rule of court."

Section 1013 governs service of notices and other papers in a pending case. The summons has its own completion rules — 415.10, 415.20, 415.30 and 415.40 each say when service is complete — so the response date after service of a summons comes from those provisions, not from stacking 1013 on top.

Four things count as responding

CCP 586(b) defines the word: "'respond' means to answer, to demur, or to move to strike." A motion to quash under 418.10 is the fourth route.

Demurrer — CCP 430.40(a). A person against whom a complaint or cross-complaint has been filed may demur "within 30 days after service." Same window as the answer. CCP 430.10 lists the grounds: no subject-matter jurisdiction; no legal capacity to sue; another action pending between the same parties on the same cause of action; defect or misjoinder of parties; failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; uncertainty (which "includes ambiguous and unintelligible"); in a contract action, inability to tell from the pleading whether the contract is written, oral or implied by conduct; and no certificate filed as required by Section 411.35.

Motion to strike — CCP 435. Any party, within the time allowed to respond to a pleading, may serve and file a notice of motion to strike the whole or any part of it. 435(b)(2) requires the hearing date to be set under Section 1005.

435(c) is the protective provision: "If a party serves and files a notice of motion to strike without demurring to the complaint, the time to answer is extended and no default may be entered against that defendant, except as provided in Sections 585 and 586."

435(d) is the trap on the other side: filing a motion to strike an answer or complaint "shall not extend the time within which to demur."

Motion to quash — CCP 418.10. A defendant, on or before the last day to plead (or within further time the court allows for good cause), may move to quash service for lack of personal jurisdiction, to stay or dismiss for inconvenient forum, or to dismiss under the delay-in- prosecution provisions.

418.10(b) sets the timing precisely. The notice must designate a hearing date not more than 30 days after filing. Service and filing of the notice "shall extend the defendant's time to plead until 15 days after service upon him or her of a written notice of entry of an order denying his or her motion" — and for good cause the court may extend that by up to 20 more days.

418.10(c) adds a writ track: if the motion is denied, the defendant has 10 days after service of written notice of entry of the order — or further time up to 20 days for good cause — to petition for a writ of mandate, before pleading.

What happens after the motion is decided

CCP 586(a) lists the situations where the same proceedings are had, and judgment rendered the same way, as if the defendant had failed to answer. Among them: the complaint is amended and the defendant doesn't respond within 30 days after service or the time the court allows; the demurrer is overruled or the motion to strike denied and the defendant fails to answer within the time the court allows; a motion to strike is granted in part and the defendant fails to answer the unstricken portion; and a motion to quash or to stay or dismiss under 418.10 is denied and the defendant fails to respond within the time that section provides.

So losing a pre-answer motion doesn't end the case, but it does start a new, court-set clock — and missing that one puts the defendant in the same position as never having answered.

Default — CCP 585

CCP 585 splits by the kind of claim.

585(a) — clerk's default. In an action arising on contract or judgment for the recovery of money or damages only, where the defendant was served other than by publication and no answer, demurrer, motion to strike, motion to transfer, motion to dismiss, motion to quash or writ notice has been filed within the time specified in the summons or further time allowed, the clerk — on the plaintiff's written application and proof of service — "shall enter the default" and immediately enter judgment for the principal amount demanded, with interest and costs.

585(b) — court default. In other actions, the plaintiff applies to the court, which may hear evidence and render the judgment the plaintiff is entitled to.

Note what 585(a) means in practice for a debt case: the clerk can enter both the default and the judgment, on paperwork, without a hearing.

CCP 585 and CCP 473 each currently exist in a version "Effective Until 1/1/2027" alongside a version "Operative 1/1/2027." For Section 585 the differences are stylistic. For Section 473 the change is substantive, and the set-aside guide covers it.

Getting more time

The rules of court allow one stipulated extension of up to 15 days beyond the initial response date, without leave of court, and further extensions by court order. Those provisions sit in the California Rules of Court rather than the Code of Civil Procedure, so they aren't reproduced on this site — the Judicial Council publishes them.

The more reliable point is the one in the statute: CCP 418.10(b) and CCP 435(c) both extend the time to plead by operation of law when the corresponding motion is filed on time. Filing something within the 30 days is what preserves the position.

Unlawful detainer is a different statute

An eviction runs on CCP 1167, not on the 30-day rule, and the response period is measured in court days. See the unlawful detainer guide.

Where these rules live

• CCP 412.20 — Contents of Summons
• CCP 415.10 — Personal Delivery
• CCP 415.20 — Substituted Service
• CCP 415.30 — Service by Mail With Acknowledgment
• CCP 415.40 — Service Outside the State
• CCP 418.10 — Motion to Quash or Stay
• CCP 430.10 — Grounds for Objection
• CCP 430.40 — Time to Demur
• CCP 435 — Motion to Strike
• CCP 473 — Mistake, Inadvertence, Surprise or Excusable Neglect
• CCP 585 — Judgment on Failure to Answer
• CCP 586 — Proceedings as on Failure to Answer
• CCP 1013 — Service by Mail; Extension of Time

The California courts run a free self-help site at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, with the Judicial Council answer forms and step-by-step instructions. This page explains what the statutes say. It isn't legal advice.