procedural guides

Amended Answer in California Superior Court–At A Glance

Note: See SmartRules Guides for up-to-date Amended Answer information for the California Superior Courts.

Use this At-A-Glance Guide to learn the statewide rules of civil procedure applicable to amended answers in the California Superior Courts. For more detailed information, including Local Rules, on amended answers in a specific California Superior Court, please see the SmartRules California Amended Answer Guides for the court where your action is pending.


Amended Answer Rules

A proposed amendment or amended pleading must be serially numbered to differentiate it from previous pleadings or amendments.

The court may deem a motion to file an amendment to a pleading to be a motion to file an amended pleading and require the filing of the entire previous pleading with the approved amendments incorporated into it.

An amendment to a pleading must not be made by alterations on the face of a pleading except by permission of the court. The court or the clerk must initial all alterations.

Timing

An answer may be amended once without leave of court within ten (10) days after the answer was filed, or if there is a demurrer to the answer, amendment without leave of court may be made before the demurrer hearing. Amendment as a matter of right is made by filing and serving the amended pleading.

Leave of court to amend an answer may be sought at any time.


SmartRules Guides

SmartRules Guides cover additional Amended Answer requirements including:

Filing & Service

Additional Requirements

Format of Papers

Special Requirements for Particular Matters

Pleading Rules

See SmartRules for fully detailed Amended Answer Guides in California Superior Courts.


Originally published July 30, 2009