When Is a Motion to Strike 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.
30 calendar days from service of the pleading, extended by the method of service. CCP §§ 435, 435.5
What catches people out: The statute states no number of days of its own. It runs on the time allowed to respond to the pleading, so the date moves with the method of service.
Section 435(b)(1) does not set a period. It says a motion to strike may be served and filed within the time allowed to respond to a pleading, which means the deadline is whatever your response deadline is. For a complaint served personally that is 30 days from delivery; for substituted service it is 40 days from the follow-up mailing, because service is not complete until the 10th day after that mailing.
Section 435.5(a)(2) supplies the same automatic 30-day extension the demurrer statute does, on the same terms: meet and confer at least five days before the motion is due, and if that is not possible, file a declaration on or before the original date. The extension runs from the original date, not from the filing.
The two automatic extensions do not stack. The demurrer extension under section 430.41(a)(2) and the motion-to-strike extension under section 435.5(a)(2) both measure from the same original due date, so filing both declarations does not produce 60 days. They are concurrent, not consecutive.
One asymmetry catches people. Filing a motion to strike without also demurring extends the time to answer, but it does not extend the time to demur. If you intend to do both, the demurrer deadline is not waiting for the strike motion to be decided.
What the statute does not say on its face
- A motion to strike must be served and filed “within the time allowed to respond to a pleading.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 435, subd. (b)(1).) That period tracks the time to respond, including any extension, rather than running independently from service. The time limitation does not apply to motions specified in § 435(e).
- Code Civ. Proc., § 435.5 provides an automatic 30-day extension where the parties cannot meet and confer at least 5 days before the motion to strike is due, on filing a declaration. “The 30-day extension shall commence from the date the motion to strike was previously due, and the moving party shall not be subject to default during the period of the extension.” There is no sunset date. Last amended Stats. 2023, ch. 478 (A.B. 1756), § 10, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.
- The 30-day figure modeled here is the default time to respond. Any extension of the responsive-pleading date moves this deadline with it, and the calculator does not model that.
- Filing the motion protects the answer, not a later demurrer. “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.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 435, subd. (c).) But the filing “shall not extend the time within which to demur.” (§ 435, subd. (d).)
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 to strike in California?
30 calendar days from service of the pleading, under CCP §§ 435, 435.5. 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 to strike deadline?
Yes. Service extensions apply to this period, so the date moves depending on whether the triggering papers went out personally, by mail, by overnight delivery or electronically. The calculator applies the right one once you pick the method.
Can the motion to strike deadline be extended?
Filing the § 435.5(a)(2) meet-and-confer declaration on or before this date grants an automatic 30-day extension running from the date the motion was previously due.
When are the opposition and reply due on a motion to strike?
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 to strike deadline?
The statute states no number of days of its own. It runs on the time allowed to respond to the pleading, so the date moves with the method of service.
Other motion deadlines
DemurrerAnti-SLAPP special motion 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 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 · Keep this date with the case
Rules current as of August 20, 2026 · CCP amendments through January 1, 2025 · engine v1.0.0