When Is a Demurrer Due in California?
Not legal advice. Rules attested September 29, 2026; last full pass August 17, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer
Each verified rule carries its own date on the methodology page, all of them September 29, 2026: the date the maintaining attorney last attested it. The last full pass, signed off on August 17, 2026, checked the rules against their official sources (the code, the California Rules of Court, or for court holidays the Judicial Council calendar), with the exceptions listed on the about page. Rules still awaiting sign-off are listed on the methodology page as not yet verified. County local rules are paraphrased summaries. Individual department and judge standing orders are included only where the court publishes them and we have read the document, so assume your own department has requirements beyond what you see here. Verify every date against the operative code sections, your court's rules and your department's own order before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.
30 calendar days from completion of service of the summons and complaint, with no extra days for mail or electronic service. CCP § 430.40(a)
An amended complaint, or a cross-complaint served on a party that has appeared: 30 calendar days from service of the amended complaint or cross-complaint, extended by the method of service.
An answer or an amended answer: 10 calendar days from service of the answer, extended by the method of service.
What catches people out: The 30 days runs from when service was complete, not from the day the papers arrived, and substituted service is not complete until the 10th day after the follow-up mailing.
A demurrer is due within 30 days after service of the complaint or cross-complaint. That is the same 30 days you have to answer, because both run on the time allowed to respond to the pleading, so choosing to demur rather than answer does not buy any additional time by itself. A plaintiff demurring to an answer has less: 10 days after the answer is served (section 430.40(b)).
Mail adds nothing when the complaint came with the summons. Section 1016 keeps the section 1013 mail extension and the section 1010.6 electronic-service extension off service of a summons, so the 30 days run from the date service was complete and nothing is added on top. An amended complaint served on your attorney is different: it goes out under the ordinary rules for serving papers, and mailed within California it gets five extra days.
What does buy time is the meet-and-confer machinery, and it is the most underused provision in this area. If the parties cannot meet and confer at least five days before the responsive pleading is due, the demurring party gets an automatic 30-day extension by filing a declaration saying so on or before the original due date. No court order, no stipulation, no hearing. Three limits are worth committing to memory: the declaration must be filed on or before the original date, the 30 days runs from that original date rather than from the day you file, and any further extension needs a court order on good cause.
The exclusions are narrow and specific. Only unrepresented incarcerated parties and forcible entry, forcible detainer and unlawful detainer proceedings sit outside the meet-and-confer requirement. Limited civil cases are not excluded, which surprises people.
Once the demurrer is filed, the hearing runs on the ordinary motion clock: 16 court days of notice, opposition 9 court days before, reply 5 court days before. Those are court days and they count backward across weekends and court holidays, which is where the arithmetic usually goes wrong.
What the statute does not say on its face
- SERVICE EXTENSIONS DEPEND ON WHAT WAS SERVED. A complaint served with the summons takes none: § 1016 takes service of a summons or other process outside §§ 1010.6 and 1013, and the 30 days run from the date service was complete under §§ 415.10 to 415.40. An amended complaint, a cross-complaint served on a party that has appeared, or an answer is served under §§ 1010 to 1020, and § 1013 (and § 1010.6 for electronic service made through December 31, 2026) extends the time to demur to it.
- In unlawful detainer the time to respond is 10 days excluding weekends and judicial holidays under § 1167, not 30. The response-to-complaint calculator has that track.
- Meet and confer at least 5 days before the responsive pleading is due, and the automatic 30-day extension, are both in Code Civ. Proc., § 430.41, subd. (a)(2). The extension is automatic on filing the declaration and requires no leave of court; further extensions require a court order for good cause. There is no sunset. Last amended Stats. 2023, ch. 478 (A.B. 1756), § 9, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.
- The only exclusions are in § 430.41(d): unrepresented incarcerated parties, and forcible entry/detainer and unlawful detainer proceedings. Limited civil cases are not excluded.
- The hearing is then noticed under § 1005.
Then the hearing clock starts
Filing on time is half of it. The hearing itself runs on CCP § 1005(b): 16 court days of notice before the hearing, opposition 9 court days before, reply 5 court days before. Electronic service made through December 31, 2026 pushes the moving papers to 18 court days; from January 1, 2027 it adds nothing. All of it counts backward across weekends and California court holidays, which is where most miscounts happen. The civil motion deadline calculator does both halves at once.
Common questions
How long do you have to file a demurrer in California?
30 calendar days from completion of service of the summons and complaint, under CCP § 430.40(a) and CCP § 412.20(a)(3). For an amended complaint, or a cross-complaint served on a party that has appeared, 30 calendar days from service of the amended complaint or cross-complaint. For an answer or an amended answer, 10 calendar days from service of the answer. Calendar days count weekends and holidays; if the last day lands on one, the deadline rolls to the next court day.
Does the method of service extend the demurrer deadline?
Not for a complaint served with the summons. Section 1016 takes service of a summons or other process outside sections 1010.6 and 1013, so mail adds nothing. The method still matters, because service is complete on different days: on delivery for personal service, on the 10th day after the mailing for substituted service or mail outside California, and on the day the acknowledgment is signed for notice and acknowledgment. Service by mail, overnight delivery or fax does extend it for an amended complaint, or a cross-complaint served on a party that has appeared (section 1013), and so does electronic service made through December 31, 2026 (section 1010.6). The same goes for an answer, and the time to respond to one is only 10 days. The calculator applies the right rule once you pick what was served and how.
Can the demurrer deadline be extended?
Filing the § 430.41(a)(2) meet-and-confer declaration on or before this date grants an automatic 30-day extension with no court order. Further extensions require a court order for good cause.
When are the opposition and reply due on a demurrer?
Opposition is due 9 court days before the hearing and the reply 5 court days before, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005(b). Both are court days and both count backward from the hearing across weekends and California court holidays.
What catches people out on the demurrer deadline?
The 30 days runs from when service was complete, not from the day the papers arrived, and substituted service is not complete until the 10th day after the follow-up mailing.
Other motion deadlines
Anti-SLAPP special motion to strikeMotion to strikeMotion to quash service of summonsMotion to compel further responsesMotion for reconsiderationMotion for new trialMotion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
This deadline was verified against the code on September 29, 2026. Every figure on this page is read from the same rules engine the calculators use, so it cannot disagree with them. See methodology.
Related: Civil motion deadlines · Response to a complaint · California court holidays · How these rules were verified · Keep this date with the case
Rules verified September 29, 2026 · CCP amendments through January 1, 2026, and AB 540 (Stats. 2026, ch. 263) from January 1, 2027 · engine v1.3.0