California Causes of Action PDF Forms: Selection, Deadlines, Service

California’s Judicial Council publishes free, fillable cause-of-action forms on the official California Courts website at courts.ca.gov, and downloading the right one takes about two minutes. The forms belong to the Pleading (PLD) series and cover the most common civil claims: breach of contract, negligence, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, and intentional torts. Each cause of action gets its own PLD form, and one or more of them attaches to a main complaint form to launch the lawsuit.

Where to Download the Forms

Go to courts.ca.gov, select “Forms & Rules,” and search by topic or form number. The forms are fillable PDFs, so you can type into them before printing. Download only from this official source. Third-party legal sites often host outdated versions, and courts reject old editions.

Cause-of-action forms all carry the “PLD” prefix. The form number tells you the category: PLD-PI-001(1) is Motor Vehicle, PLD-PI-001(2) is General Negligence, PLD-C-001(1) is Breach of Contract. Searching “PLD” on the forms page brings up the full list.

The lower-left corner of each form’s first page indicates whether it was “adopted for mandatory use” or “approved for optional use.”1Judicial Branch of California. Using Forms Mandatory forms must be accepted by every court in the state.2Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 1.31 – Mandatory Forms Optional forms are accepted everywhere too, and some become mandatory under local court rules. Using the Judicial Council form is always safe.

Which PLD Form Matches Your Claim

Match the facts of your dispute to the right legal category:

  • Contract disputes: PLD-C-001(1), Breach of Contract, covers written, oral, and implied agreements.
  • Motor vehicle accidents: PLD-PI-001(1).
  • General negligence: PLD-PI-001(2) covers injuries caused by carelessness outside the vehicle context, such as slip-and-falls or defective products.
  • Premises liability: PLD-PI-001(3) applies when you were hurt on someone else’s property because of a dangerous condition.
  • Intentional torts: PLD-PI-001(4) covers battery, assault, and fraud.

A single set of facts often supports more than one theory, and each theory needs its own form. If a distracted driver rear-ended you in a poorly designed parking lot, you might attach both the Motor Vehicle form and the Premises Liability form to the same complaint. They travel together as one filing. Skipping a form means losing the chance to recover on that theory.

California law requires the complaint to state the facts of each cause of action in plain, concise language.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 425.10 – Contents of Complaint or Cross-complaint If your allegations don’t add up to a recognized legal theory, the defendant can move to dismiss.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 430.10

Filling in the Elements

The forms walk you through the elements of each claim with checkboxes and short fill-in sections. Checking a box is not enough. You need to write specific factual allegations that satisfy each element.

Breach of Contract

PLD-C-001(1) asks whether the contract was written, oral, or implied by conduct; the date it was formed; what each side agreed to do; how you performed; how the defendant failed to perform; and the dollar amount of your damages. If the agreement was written, the form gives you a place to attach a copy as Exhibit A.5Judicial Branch of California. PLD-C-001(1) Cause of Action – Breach of Contract Attach the contract whenever you have it. The judge can then see the exact language the defendant allegedly violated.

General Negligence

PLD-PI-001(2) prompts you for the date and location of the incident, the defendant’s specific careless act or failure to act, how that carelessness caused your injury, and the nature of your damages. Being too vague is the usual mistake. “Defendant was negligent” is a legal conclusion. “Defendant failed to repair a broken handrail on the staircase despite knowing about the defect for six months” is a fact. The form wants facts.

Filing Deadlines You Cannot Miss

California imposes strict statutes of limitations on every cause of action. Once the deadline passes, the claim is dead no matter how strong it is.

The fraud deadline trips people up. You may not realize you were defrauded until years later, and the discovery rule accounts for that. For most other claims, the clock starts when the harm occurs. If a deadline is close, file first and clean up details by amendment later. An imperfect complaint that gets amended beats a perfect one that arrives a day late.

The Rest of the Complaint Package

The cause-of-action form is one piece. A complete package includes:

  • The main complaint form. PLD-C-001 is designed for contract cases; CM-001 is the general complaint form. Your PLD cause-of-action form attaches to whichever one you use.9California Courts. COMPLAINT – Contract (PLD-C-001)
  • One cause-of-action form for each legal theory.
  • Summons, form SUM-100, the court-issued notice telling the defendant they’ve been sued and setting the response deadline.
  • Civil Case Cover Sheet, form CM-010, used for case assignment and statistical tracking.
  • Exhibits: contracts, photographs, or other supporting documents, labeled Exhibit A, B, and so on.

File in the Superior Court for the county where the defendant lives or where the events took place. The clerk reviews the package, assigns a case number, and issues the summons. Keep at least two extra copies of everything: one for your records and one for each defendant you plan to serve.

Filing Fees and Waivers

The filing fee for an unlimited civil case (claims over $35,000) is $435 as of January 1, 2026.10Judicial Branch of California. Superior Court of California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties charge slightly more due to local courthouse construction surcharges. Limited civil cases (claims of $35,000 or less) carry lower fees that vary with the amount in dispute.

If you cannot afford the fee, file form FW-001, Request to Waive Court Fees, at the same time you file your complaint. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits, your household income falls below a set threshold, or your income is not enough to cover both basic living expenses and court costs.11California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees The court decides quickly, and if approved, you pay nothing to file.

Serving the Defendant

Filing starts the case, but the defendant isn’t a party until they’re formally served with the summons and complaint. California allows several methods:

  • Personal delivery. Someone other than you, at least 18 years old, hands the papers to the defendant. Service is complete on delivery.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 415.10 – 415.95
  • Substituted service. After reasonable attempts at personal delivery fail, the server can leave the papers with a responsible adult at the defendant’s home or workplace and then mail a second copy by first-class mail. Service is complete 10 days after mailing.
  • Service by mail with acknowledgment. You mail the papers with an acknowledgment form. The defendant has 20 days to sign and return it. If they don’t, use another method.

You cannot serve the papers yourself. Hire a professional process server (typically $65 to $175) or ask any adult who is not a party to the case. After service, the server completes a Proof of Service form, which you file with the court. Without that proof on file, the case cannot move forward.

Amending if You Missed Something

Leaving out a cause of action or getting a detail wrong is not fatal. California gives you one free amendment: you can file an amended complaint without asking the judge, as long as the defendant hasn’t yet responded. After that, you need the court’s permission, and judges grant these requests liberally when you have a legitimate reason.

To amend, prepare a new version of the entire complaint package with the corrections included, label it “First Amended Complaint,” and serve a copy on the defendant. The defendant’s response deadline resets from the date they receive the amended version. If you spot a viable claim you missed, amending early is always better than trying to add it once the case is well underway.