When is California summary judgment opposition due?

The actual noticed or continued hearing date

Use the current noticed or continued hearing, not the date the moving papers were received. Retain a continuance or order changing the opposition period.

Responsible actor. The party opposing summary judgment or summary adjudication. Use ordinary California civil summary judgment or summary adjudication under section 437c. Exclude unlawful detainer and other section 437c(s) possession proceedings, a changed court schedule, and additional actual closures. Establish the actual hearing or trial date independently.

1. The actual noticed or continued hearing date
2. Use the current noticed or continued hearing, not the date the moving papers were received. Retain a continuance or order changing the opposition period.
3. Exclude the hearing day and count twenty calendar days backward under CCP 12c. Intermediate weekends and holidays count. CCP 12a carries a final closed day to the next eligible court day. No CCP 1013 service days are added to this hearing-based period.
4. Serve and file the opposition, including the responsive separate statement and appropriate evidence. Preserve accepted filing and service reasonably calculated for delivery by the next business-day close under CCP 1005(c).

The hearing or trial day is excluded. Calendar-day periods include intermediate weekends and judicial holidays. CCP 12c(b) counts service-method additions farther backward from the base notice date. CCP 12a supplies the next eligible day for final opposition and reply expiry; that later-date treatment cannot be reused as a service target that reduces the full minimum notice. The personal-service and latest-hearing presets refuse closed base boundaries. Rule 1.11 governs ordinary weekend holiday observance. The retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar includes Lincoln Day, March 31, Juneteenth, Native American Day and Thanksgiving Friday, and the December 31, 2027 New Year observance. CCP 135 excludes the identified Admission Day, Columbus Day, Lunar New Year, Diwali and Genocide Remembrance Day agency holidays. Actual additional court closures require separate proof.

For moving papers, CCP 437c(a)(2) adds five, ten or twenty calendar days by the recipient mailing address, and two court days for fax, express mail or other overnight delivery. CCP 1010.6 supplies its separate electronic-service treatment, including two court days where applicable and the next-court-day treatment of noncourt-day service. Establish valid service and the actual event. Section 437c(b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions, preserving CCP 1005(c) delivery of opposition and reply by the next business-day close. Do not import the ordinary sixteen, nine or five court-day motion periods into summary judgment.

Section 437c is the retained edition effective January 1, 2025. These presets cover anchors on or after January 1, 2026 and final dates within the independently retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. They require an actual open-day hearing or trial anchor, unchanged statutory periods and no additional closure. Historical editions, future amendments, court orders, actual outages and additional local requirements need separate review. The software coverage limit does not establish that an actual act is late.

Fictitious example

Use ordinary California civil summary judgment or summary adjudication under section 437c. Exclude unlawful detainer and other section 437c(s) possession proceedings, a changed court schedule, and additional actual closures. Establish the actual hearing or trial date independently. Ordinary twenty-day opposition period; no contrary order.

Fictitious facts within the stated coverage. No different court order, additional closure, unsupported service method or possession proceeding is assumed. The result does not prove the required acts or a reserved hearing.

Court order otherwise

The court may for good cause order otherwise. A changed period requires the actual order rather than a standard twenty-day calculation.

Responsive separate statement

Respond to each claimed undisputed material fact and identify additional disputed material facts with evidence references. Omission can supply a discretionary ground for granting the motion.

Evidence or discovery unavailable

Under subdivision (h), the required affidavit showing can lead to denial, a discovery continuance or another just order. An ex parte discovery-continuance application may be made on or before the opposition response is due. Do not describe a continuance as the only available statutory outcome.

Separate service rule

Subdivision (b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions while expressly preserving section 1005(c) opposition and reply delivery requirements. The ordinary nine-court-day opposition rule does not replace this twenty-calendar-day period.

Method and delivery requirements

For moving papers, CCP 437c(a)(2) adds five, ten or twenty calendar days by the recipient mailing address, and two court days for fax, express mail or other overnight delivery. CCP 1010.6 supplies its separate electronic-service treatment, including two court days where applicable and the next-court-day treatment of noncourt-day service. Establish valid service and the actual event. Section 437c(b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions, preserving CCP 1005(c) delivery of opposition and reply by the next business-day close. Do not import the ordinary sixteen, nine or five court-day motion periods into summary judgment.

Edition and calendar coverage

Section 437c is the retained edition effective January 1, 2025. These presets cover anchors on or after January 1, 2026 and final dates within the independently retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. They require an actual open-day hearing or trial anchor, unchanged statutory periods and no additional closure. Historical editions, future amendments, court orders, actual outages and additional local requirements need separate review. The software coverage limit does not establish that an actual act is late.

• Use ordinary California civil summary judgment or summary adjudication under section 437c. Exclude unlawful detainer and other section 437c(s) possession proceedings, a changed court schedule, and additional actual closures. Establish the actual hearing or trial date independently.
• The calculated component does not prove appearance, service, accepted filing, reservation or a permissible actual hearing.

• The actual noticed or continued hearing date
• Use the current noticed or continued hearing, not the date the moving papers were received. Retain a continuance or order changing the opposition period.
• Serve and file the opposition, including the responsive separate statement and appropriate evidence. Preserve accepted filing and service reasonably calculated for delivery by the next business-day close under CCP 1005(c).
• The court may for good cause order otherwise. A changed period requires the actual order rather than a standard twenty-day calculation.
• Respond to each claimed undisputed material fact and identify additional disputed material facts with evidence references. Omission can supply a discretionary ground for granting the motion.
• Under subdivision (h), the required affidavit showing can lead to denial, a discovery continuance or another just order. An ex parte discovery-continuance application may be made on or before the opposition response is due. Do not describe a continuance as the only available statutory outcome.
• Subdivision (b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions while expressly preserving section 1005(c) opposition and reply delivery requirements. The ordinary nine-court-day opposition rule does not replace this twenty-calendar-day period.
• Court electronic filing follows CCP 1010.6 and rules 2.253 and 2.259. Preserve receipt and accepted-filing confirmations, fees or waiver and the actual court requirements. Preparing, uploading or serving a document does not prove accepted filing. Rule 2.259(c) has the stated court-system-failure relief and excludes complaints and other initial pleadings. Paper filing requires actual court receipt and the office procedure. A computed date does not reserve a hearing.