When Is a Motion for New Trial Due in California?
Not legal advice. Rules checked against the code on August 20, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer
Core CCP rules were checked against Westlaw (via CoCounsel legal research) on August 20, 2026. County local rules are paraphrased summaries; individual department standing orders are NOT included. Verify every date against the operative code sections and your court’s rules before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.
15 calendar days from the earliest of: the clerk's service of notice of entry under § 664.5, service by any party of written notice of entry, or 180 days after entry. CCP § 659(a)
What catches people out: Fifteen days, no service extension of any kind, and the deadline is jurisdictional. This is the one place where mail service does not buy you five days.
The notice of intention to move for a new trial is due within 15 days of the earliest of three events: the clerk's service of notice of entry of judgment under section 664.5, service by any party of written notice of entry, or 180 days after entry of judgment. Earliest, not latest.
The section 1013 service extensions do not apply. Section 1013 says so in terms: the extensions do not extend the time to file a notice of intention to move for a new trial, a notice of intention to move to vacate under section 663a, or a notice of appeal. Those three are the carve-outs. If you calendar this the way you calendar a discovery response, adding five days for mail, you will be five days late on a jurisdictional deadline.
The period cannot be extended by the court or by stipulation. Unlike most of the deadlines on this site, there is no good-cause relief and no agreement that cures a late filing.
The motion also has an effect well beyond itself. A valid notice of intention extends the time to appeal from the judgment under rule of court 8.108(b), generally until 30 days after the order denying it or 30 days after denial by operation of law, capped at 180 days after entry. So the new trial deadline is often the first domino in an appellate calendar rather than the end of the trial court one.
What the statute does not say on its face
- A notice of intention to move for a new trial must be filed and served either (1) after the decision is rendered and before entry of judgment, or (2) within 15 days of the earliest of: the clerk's service of notice of entry of judgment under Code Civ. Proc., § 664.5, service on the moving party by any party of written notice of entry of judgment, or 180 days after entry of judgment. (Code Civ. Proc., § 659(a).)
- SERVICE EXTENSIONS DO NOT APPLY. Section 659 provides that these times “shall not be extended by order or stipulation or by those provisions of Section 1013 that extend the time for exercising a right or doing an act where service is by mail.” Section 1013(a) separately and expressly carves out notices of intention to move for new trial.
- The court's power to rule expires 75 days after the earlier of the clerk's mailing of notice of entry of judgment under § 664.5 or service on the moving party by any party of written notice of entry of judgment; if no such notice has been given, 75 days after the filing of the first notice of intention to move for a new trial. If not determined within that period the motion is denied by operation of law. (Code Civ. Proc., § 660(c).) The trigger was changed from the filing of the notice of intention, and the period extended from 60 to 75 days, by Stats. 2018, ch. 317 (A.B. 2230), eff. Jan. 1, 2019.
- Only the 15-day branch is modeled here, and only the service-of-notice trigger. The 180-day outside limit is not modeled.
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 pushes the moving papers to 18 court days. 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 motion for new trial in California?
15 calendar days from the earliest of: the clerk's service of notice of entry under § 664.5, service by any party of written notice of entry, or 180 days after entry, under CCP § 659(a). 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 motion for new trial deadline?
No. This period takes no service extension at all, so the date is the same however the triggering papers were served. Adding days for mail here is how the deadline gets missed.
Can the motion for new trial deadline be extended?
No. Nothing extends this deadline: not a stipulation between counsel, not a court order, and not good cause. Treat the date as fixed.
When are the opposition and reply due on a motion for new trial?
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 motion for new trial deadline?
Fifteen days, no service extension of any kind, and the deadline is jurisdictional. This is the one place where mail service does not buy you five days.
Other motion deadlines
DemurrerAnti-SLAPP special motion to strikeMotion to strikeMotion to quash service of summonsMotion to compel further responsesMotion for reconsiderationMotion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
This deadline was verified against the code on August 17, 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 · When the notice of appeal is due · Keep this date with the case
Rules current as of August 20, 2026 · CCP amendments through January 1, 2025 · engine v1.0.0