A California Request for Admissions is a written discovery tool, governed by Code of Civil Procedure sections 2033.010 through 2033.420, that lets one party ask another to admit or deny specific facts, the application of law to those facts, or the genuineness of documents. Each party can send up to 35 as a matter of right, the recipient has 30 days to answer under oath, and anything admitted (or deemed admitted through silence) is locked in for the rest of the case.
How Many RFAs You Can Send
The default cap is 35 per party, and that number is a total across all sets, not per set. Send 20 in your first round and you have 15 left.1Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 2033.010-2033.080 Requests directed only at the genuineness of documents don’t count against the 35.
If your case needs more, you can serve additional requests by attaching a declaration explaining why the higher number is justified given the complexity of the case or the number of issues.2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.040 The other side can respond by seeking a protective order.
Limited civil cases (those with $35,000 or less at stake) work differently. There, each party gets a combined total of 35 interrogatories, document demands, and RFAs against each opposing party, so every request drains a shared pool.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 94 In unlimited civil cases, the 35-request ceiling applies separately to each discovery method.
One boundary that matters before you draft anything: RFAs go only to parties in the lawsuit. Witnesses and other non-parties aren’t fair game, and reaching them requires a subpoena or deposition. Courts also retain broad authority to cut back discovery they find repetitive, more easily obtained by other means, or disproportionate to what the case is worth.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2019.030
Formatting the Requests
Each request must be set forth separately and identified by a letter or number, with sets numbered consecutively. The first paragraph below the case title must identify the party sending the requests, the set number, and the party being asked to respond.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.060
Two formatting rules cause most of the trouble. No request can contain subparts or be compound, conjunctive, or disjunctive. A request asking a defendant to “admit you were negligent and caused the plaintiff’s injuries” bundles two issues; it needs to be split. Second, any specially defined term must be typed in all capital letters wherever it appears.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.060
When a request asks about a document’s genuineness, a copy of the document must be attached and the original made available for inspection on demand. RFAs cannot be combined in the same document with any other type of discovery request.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.060
The 30-Day Response Deadline
The responding party has 30 days from the date of service to serve written responses.6Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.250 The clock runs from service, not from receipt.
The service method changes the math. Electronic service adds two court days.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1010.6 Service by mail within California adds five calendar days; mail to an address outside California but within the United States adds ten; international mail adds twenty.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1013
If you need more time, get a written stipulation from the other side. Without one, you can ask the court for an extension, but you’ll need to show good cause and diligence. Judges are not patient with parties who wait until the deadline is on top of them.
Your Three Response Options
Responses must be in writing, under oath, and address each request separately, using the same numbering and order as the requests.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.210 For each request, you have three substantive choices:
- Admit. The fact is accepted as true and is established for the entire case; you generally cannot argue otherwise at trial.
- Deny. The other side must prove the fact. If they do, you may owe their costs of proof.
- State that after a reasonable inquiry you lack sufficient information to admit or deny. This functions as a denial, but only if you actually investigated. Courts are unforgiving when the information was readily available.10California Courts. Respond to Requests for Admission
If only part of a request is objectionable, the rest still has to be answered.11California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.230 Admissions can be qualified when a flat yes or no would mislead, admitting one portion while denying or explaining another.
Objections
An objection must state its specific ground. Boilerplate (“vague and ambiguous” with nothing more) rarely survives a motion to compel. Attorney-client privilege objections must identify the specific privilege being invoked, and work-product protection must be expressly claimed.11California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.230
Here is the trap: a party who fails to serve a timely response waives every objection, including privilege and work product.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.280 The court can relieve a party from that waiver only if the late response substantially complies and the delay stemmed from mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect.
What Happens If You Don’t Respond
This is where cases fall apart. If a party doesn’t serve timely responses, the requesting party can move to have every request deemed admitted. The court must grant the motion unless the responding party serves a compliant proposed response before the hearing.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.280
Even a party who scrambles to serve late responses and avoids deemed admissions still faces mandatory monetary sanctions. The statute says the court “shall” impose sanctions on the party or attorney whose failure forced the motion, meaning attorney fees and costs of preparing the motion are the minimum exposure.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.280
Motions to Compel Better Responses
When responses come in but are evasive or rest on meritless objections, the requesting party can move to compel further responses under CCP 2033.290. A meet-and-confer effort is required first.13California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.290
The deadline catches litigants off guard: 45 days from service of the verified response, or the right to compel is permanently waived. The parties can extend it by written agreement, but without one, missing the window means you’re stuck with the response you got.13California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.290 Whichever side loses the motion pays monetary sanctions unless it had substantial justification for its position. Ignoring an order to serve further responses lets the court deem the matters admitted and pile on more sanctions.
Cost-of-Proof Sanctions After Trial
A timely denial can still cost you. If a party denies an RFA and the requesting party later proves the denied fact at trial, the court “shall” order the denying party to pay the reasonable expenses of proving it, including attorney fees, unless one of four exceptions applies.14California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.420 The exceptions:
- An objection to the request was sustained or the response was waived.
- The admission sought was not of substantial importance.
- The denying party had reasonable ground to believe it would prevail on the matter.
- Some other good reason justified the denial.
“Reasonable ground to believe” is the exception parties reach for most often, and it demands more than optimism. Denying a fact clearly supported by documentary evidence rarely qualifies. The rule exists so parties can’t reflexively deny everything and force the other side to prove uncontested ground.
Withdrawing an Admission
Anything admitted, whether on purpose or by missing the deadline, is conclusively established and cannot be contradicted with new evidence unless the court permits withdrawal. A motion under CCP 2033.300 is the only way out, and the court can grant it only when both conditions are met: the admission resulted from mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect, and the requesting party will not be substantially prejudiced in presenting its case on the merits.15California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.300 Courts are skeptical when a party admits something, lets the case develop, then tries to reverse course after realizing the damage.
Service and Filing
RFAs and responses are not filed with the court as a matter of course. California Rule of Court 3.250(a) lists them among the papers that may not be filed unless they become relevant to a motion or the court orders otherwise.16Judicial Branch of California. Rule 3.250 Limitations on the Filing of Papers They come into the court file only when attached to a motion (typically a motion to deem admitted or to compel further responses) along with a supporting declaration. Until then, the exchange stays between the parties, with proof of service retained in your own file.