California Special Interrogatories: Limits, Drafting, and Deadlines

Special interrogatories in California are written questions you draft yourself and serve on another party to a civil lawsuit, and each side may serve up to 35 of them without needing court permission. They differ from the Judicial Council’s pre-printed form interrogatories because you write them from scratch to target the specific facts of your case. The governing rules sit in Code of Civil Procedure sections 2030.010 through 2030.310, and following the format matters: a question written the wrong way invites an objection instead of an answer.

How Many You Can Send

The default cap is 35 specially prepared interrogatories per opposing party.¹ You can split them across multiple sets. Serve 20 in Set One and you have 15 left for Set Two. In a case with multiple defendants, the 35 count runs separately against each defendant.

If you send more than 35 without attaching the required declaration, the recipient only has to answer the first 35 and can object to the rest.¹ Put your most important questions first.

To go above 35, attach a Declaration for Additional Discovery signed under penalty of perjury.² The declaration has to justify the extra volume on at least one of three statutory grounds: the number or complexity of issues warrants more questions, depositions would be a heavier financial burden than written questions, or interrogatories are the most practical way to get information that requires the responding party to search files or investigate internally.³ Without the declaration, any question past 35 is dead on arrival. The other side can also seek a protective order, and if they do, you carry the burden of justifying the number.

One category doesn’t count against the cap: supplemental interrogatories, which ask a party to update earlier answers with new information.⁴

Drafting Rules That Keep Questions Enforceable

Section 2030.060 governs the mechanics of each question. Every interrogatory must be full and complete in and of itself. You can’t refer back to an earlier question or point the reader to an outside document to supply meaning.⁵ Each question must also avoid subparts and compound structure. “State the date, time, and location of the accident” is compound because it packs three requests into one; split it into three questions, even though that uses three slots from your 35.

Format the document on pleading paper with a caption identifying the court, the parties, and the case number. Directly under the case title, name the propounding party, the responding party, and the set number (for example, “Set One”). Number the questions sequentially starting from one, and if you later serve a second set, keep numbering from where the first left off.⁵ Font must be at least 12 points under the California Rules of Court.⁶ The line-numbering and margin conventions come from the general formatting rules for trial court filings.⁷ Close the document with a signature block for the attorney or self-represented party.

Definitions and Instructions

A definitions section sits between the caption and the numbered questions. Section 2030.060 requires that any specially defined term appear in all capital letters wherever it shows up in the questions.⁵ Typical terms include INCIDENT (the event underlying the case), DOCUMENT (broadly covering letters, emails, texts, and electronic files), PERSON (individuals and organizations), and IDENTIFY (asking for full name, address, and phone number for a person, or title, date, and author for a document).

Keep definitions reasonable. A definition of DOCUMENT sweeping in every scrap the responding party has ever touched will draw an overbreadth objection that most judges sustain. Instructions typically tell the responding party to answer each question separately, to include information within their knowledge or reasonably available to them, and to sign under oath. You can also instruct them to provide what they do know and describe what’s missing if their information is incomplete.

Sample Questions by Case Type

The examples below follow California’s rules: each targets a single fact, avoids subparts, and uses action verbs like “state,” “identify,” and “describe.” Capitalized terms are the ones you would define at the top of the document.

Personal Injury

Interrogatory No. 1: State the speed at which YOUR vehicle was traveling immediately before the collision that is the subject of this lawsuit.
Interrogatory No. 2: Identify each person who witnessed any part of the INCIDENT.
Interrogatory No. 3: Describe all actions YOU took to avoid the collision.
Interrogatory No. 4: State whether YOU consumed any alcoholic beverage within the six hours before the INCIDENT.
Interrogatory No. 5: If YOU contend that PLAINTIFF’s vehicle was moving at the time of the collision, state the speed of that vehicle to the best of YOUR recollection.⁸

Breach of Contract

Interrogatory No. 1: Identify each DOCUMENT that constitutes or relates to the AGREEMENT referenced in the Complaint.
Interrogatory No. 2: State the date on which YOU first became aware of the alleged breach of the AGREEMENT.
Interrogatory No. 3: Describe each payment YOU made to PLAINTIFF under the AGREEMENT, including the date and amount of each payment.
Interrogatory No. 4: State all facts supporting YOUR contention that YOU performed all obligations required under the AGREEMENT.
Interrogatory No. 5: Identify each person who participated in negotiating the terms of the AGREEMENT.

Employment Disputes

Interrogatory No. 1: Identify each person who participated in the decision to terminate YOUR employment with DEFENDANT.
Interrogatory No. 2: State all facts supporting YOUR contention that PLAINTIFF’s termination was based on legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons.
Interrogatory No. 3: Describe each complaint or report YOU received regarding PLAINTIFF’s job performance during the two years before PLAINTIFF’s termination.

Several of these start with “If you contend” or “State all facts supporting your contention.” Those are contention interrogatories, and California expressly permits them. Section 2030.010(b) says a question is not objectionable just because it seeks an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact.⁹ They force the other side to commit to a position and identify their evidence, which makes each one worth its slot in your 35.

When You Can Serve and How to Serve

Defendants can serve interrogatories any time after being served with the lawsuit. Plaintiffs must wait 10 days after the summons is served on (or after the appearance of) the party they want to question. In unlawful detainer cases the plaintiff’s waiting period is five days. A court can shorten the plaintiff’s wait for good cause.

You serve a copy on the party the questions are directed to and on every other party who has appeared. A party cannot personally hand over the documents. The person who serves them has to be at least 18 and not involved in the case, and they sign a Proof of Service recording the date and method.¹⁰ Service can be by personal delivery, mail, or electronic delivery if the parties have agreed to it. Interrogatories are generally not filed with the court; keep the originals in your file unless a later dispute requires you to submit them.

Response Deadlines and Verification

The baseline response deadline is 30 days after service, with extra time added depending on the method of delivery.¹¹

Personal delivery: 30 days.
Mailed from within California: 35 days from mailing.
Mailed from outside California but within the U.S.: 40 days from mailing.
Mailed from outside the U.S.: 50 days from mailing.¹²

Unlawful detainer cases run on a compressed clock: five days for personal service, 10 days if mailed within California, 15 days from elsewhere in the U.S., and 25 days from outside the country.¹² The parties can agree in writing to a different date, and either side can ask the court to change it.

Responses must be verified under oath by the responding party, unless the response is nothing but objections.¹³ For a business or government entity, an officer or agent signs. The verification typically reads: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing answers are true and correct.” If the verification is missing, the response is treated as though it was never served at all, which opens the door to a motion to compel and can strip the responding party of the right to raise objections.¹⁴

Objections and Motions to Compel

Objections have to be specific. Section 2030.240 requires that each objection state the reason clearly, and any claim of privilege must name the particular privilege. One-word objections like “overbroad” or “burdensome” without more get overruled. If only part of a question is objectionable, the rest still has to be answered. Legitimate grounds include compound structure disguised as a single question, attorney-client privilege, genuine vagueness, or a burden that substantially outweighs the likely value of the information.

If the other side ignores your interrogatories entirely, they waive all objections, including privilege.¹⁵ A court can undo the waiver only if the party later serves a substantially compliant response and shows the delay was caused by mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect.

If you receive responses but they’re evasive, incomplete, or resting on meritless objections, file a motion to compel further responses under section 2030.300.¹⁶ Before filing, you have to meet and confer in good faith, which usually means a letter identifying the deficient responses and giving the other side a reasonable window to fix them.

The deadline is hard: 45 days from receipt of the verified response, unless both sides agree in writing to a later date.¹⁶ Miss it and you’ve permanently waived the right to compel a better answer. It’s one of the most commonly blown deadlines in California discovery, with no fix once it passes.

Monetary sanctions are mandatory against the losing side on a motion to compel unless the court finds the losing party acted with substantial justification.¹⁶ If a party then disobeys the court’s order, section 2023.030 authorizes issue sanctions (treating facts as established), evidence sanctions (barring specific evidence), terminating sanctions (striking pleadings, dismissing the case, or entering default), and contempt.¹⁷ Judges typically start with money and escalate only against repeat offenders.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.030 – Propounding Interrogatories
2
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.050 – Declaration for Additional Discovery
3
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.040
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2030.070
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California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.060 – Propounding Interrogatories
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Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2.104 – Font Size; Printing
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Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2.100 – Form and Format of Papers Presented for Filing in the Trial Courts
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California Courts | Self Help Guide. Use Special Interrogatories to Request Information
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.010 – Written Interrogatories
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California Courts. Serving Court Papers
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.260
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California Courts | Self Help Guide. Respond to a Request for Discovery in a Court Case
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California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.250
14
California Courts | Self Help Guide. Respond to Special Interrogatories
15
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.290
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.300
17
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2023.030