California Civil Motion Deadlines
Almost every civil motion in California runs on the same clock: 16 court days’ notice before the hearing, opposition 9 court days before, reply 5 court days before (CCP § 1005(b)). What changes from motion to motion is the other deadline — the one that says how long you had to bring it in the first place.
The two clocks
A demurrer is due 30 days after service of the complaint. A motion to compel further responses dies 45 days after the responses were served. An anti-SLAPP motion has 60 days from service of the complaint. Those are trigger deadlines, and missing one is usually fatal regardless of when a hearing is available.
Separately, once you are ready to file, section 1005 controls how much notice the hearing needs. Both clocks have to work, and they fail in opposite directions: the trigger deadline punishes you for waiting, while the notice period punishes you for setting a hearing too soon. The calculator below runs both at once.
Service extensions run the wrong way here
On a response deadline, service by mail gives you more time. On a notice period it does the opposite: section 1005(b) adds the section 1013 periods to the notice you must give, so the moving papers have to go out earlier. Serving by mail within California turns 16 court days into 16 court days plus 5 calendar days — before the weekend-and-holiday roll.
Which side are you on?
A section 1005 chain has four dates and only two of them are ever yours. If you brought the motion, you own the moving papers and the reply. If you were served with it, you own the opposition and nothing else. The calculator asks which side you are on and marks your rows, because calendaring the other side’s deadline is a real and common way to miss your own.
Responding parties get one extra thing: enter the date the underlying event happened and the calculator will tell you whether the motion against you was brought in time. A motion to compel further responses filed on day 46 is untimely no matter how good it is.
Motions covered
Challenges to the pleadings
| Motion | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Demurrer | 30 calendar days after service of the complaint, plus service extensions | CCP § 430.40(a) |
| Motion to strike | 30 calendar days after service of the pleading, plus service extensions | CCP §§ 435, 435.5 |
| Motion for judgment on the pleadings | Standard § 1005 notice — 16 court days before the hearing | CCP § 438 |
| Motion to quash service of summons | 30 calendar days after service of the summons, plus service extensions | CCP § 418.10(a) |
| Anti-SLAPP special motion to strike | 60 calendar days after service of the complaint, plus service extensions | CCP § 425.16(f) |
Discovery motions
| Motion | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Motion to compel further responses | 45 calendar days after service of the verified responses, plus service extensions | CCP §§ 2030.300(c), 2031.310(c), 2033.290(c) |
| Motion to compel initial responses | Standard § 1005 notice — 16 court days before the hearing | CCP §§ 2030.290, 2031.300 |
| Motion for protective order | Standard § 1005 notice — 16 court days before the hearing | CCP §§ 2030.090, 2031.060, 2025.420 |
Dispositive motions
| Motion | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Motion for summary judgment / adjudication | 81 days' notice — §§ 1005 and 1013 do NOT apply. Already fully implemented and attorney-verified. | CCP § 437c |
Trial management
| Motion | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Motion to reopen discovery | Standard § 1005 notice — 16 court days before the hearing | CCP § 2024.050 |
| Motion to compel arbitration | Standard § 1005 notice — 16 court days before the hearing | CCP § 1281.2 |
| Ex parte application | Notice to all parties by 10:00 a.m. the court day before the hearing, absent exceptional circumstances. | CRC rule 3.1203(a) |
Post-ruling and post-trial
| Motion | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Motion for reconsideration | 10 calendar days after service of written notice of entry of the order, plus service extensions | CCP § 1008(a) |
| Motion for new trial | 15 calendar days after 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 — no service extension | CCP § 659(a) |
| Motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict | 15 calendar days after 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 — no service extension | CCP §§ 629, 659 |
Questions the review left open
These values were verified by an attorney on July 29, 2026. Verified means each period, citation, and service rule was checked against the current code — not that every question about them is settled. Four are not, and the calculator states which way it resolves each one:
- Does § 1010.6's two-court-day electronic service extension reach the § 1005(b) 16-court-day notice period? Section 1005(b) excludes § 1013 by name and is silent as to § 1010.6, and its own extension list does not include electronic service. Electronic service is now the default in most courts, so this changes the answer on a large share of calculations. THIS CALCULATOR APPLIES IT (+2 court days), which moves the filing date earlier, and says so.
- Backward roll direction on weekends and holidays. Rolling earlier is safer for the user but is contrary to the literal text of § 12a(a) and rule 1.10(b). THIS CALCULATOR ROLLS EARLIER and labels it a convention, not a holding.
- Does § 1013 extend the § 1008(a) 10-day reconsideration period? Literal reading says yes; no case holds it. THIS CALCULATOR APPLIES IT.
- Whether to model the § 2033.280 deemed-admissions motion at all, given it is not a motion to compel and has no deadline. NOT MODELED.
What this does not cover
- Department standing orders. Many judges impose their own reservation, page-limit and courtesy-copy requirements that are not in the code or the local rules.
- Reservation availability. In busy departments the first open hearing date, not the statute, is what actually determines your schedule.
- Meet-and-confer extensions. CCP section 430.41 can push a demurrer deadline out 30 days, and the calculator does not assume you took it.
- Summary judgment, which runs on its own clock — use the MSJ calculator.
This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Verify every deadline against the current code and your court’s rules.
Related: MSJ deadlines · Discovery cutoff · Trial countdown calculator