When must a California defendant respond to a summons?

Legally completed service of the summons on this defendant

Record how and when service became complete. Substitute service is complete on the tenth day after mailing under CCP 415.20; it is not complete merely when papers are left.

Responsible actor. The defendant served with the summons. Use an ordinary civil summons, legally completed service and no altered pleading deadline. Unlawful detainer uses its separate statute. Only the disclosed component is supported. Additional actual closures, altered orders and excluded service methods require separate review.

1. Use an ordinary civil summons, legally completed service and no altered pleading deadline. Unlawful detainer uses its separate statute. Only the disclosed component is supported. Additional actual closures, altered orders and excluded service methods require separate review.
2. Exclude the established event day and count 30 calendar days under CCP 12. Intermediate weekends and holidays count. Apply CCP 12a to a final judicial holiday and check actual office closures under CCP 12b.
3. Check the actual judicial holidays, closures and statutory or court-ordered qualifications.
4. File the required written pleading in the identified court and preserve its filing confirmation. The summons warns that inaction can permit default.

CCP 12 excludes the triggering day for ordinary day periods. CCP 12a supplies the final judicial-holiday adjustment, including Saturdays and the CCP 135 holidays. CCP 12b addresses qualifying whole-day office closures. Court-day periods exclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays. Calendar-day periods include intermediate closed days. Rule 1.11 supplies Friday observance of a Saturday judicial holiday and Monday observance of a Sunday judicial holiday. The calendar includes Lincoln Day, March 31, Juneteenth, Native American Day and Thanksgiving Friday. It excludes Columbus Day and Good Friday as ordinary full judicial holidays. The observed New Year holiday on December 31, 2027 is confirmed in the county schedule. Actual additional closures require separate evidence.

These base components do not add mail, electronic, fax, express or overnight service time. CCP 1013 and 1010.6 identify eligible additions, service conditions and express exceptions. CCP 1005 supplies its own motion-delivery provisions and excludes CCP 1013 for its identified notices. New-trial and CCP 663a intention-notice filings do not receive the stated mail or electronic additions. Establish the actual service method and governing procedure before applying any addition. A summons-service completion event is not determined by the general document-service addition.

The official sections were reviewed, including the retained 2026 and operative-2027 CCP 473 and 415.20 editions. Publication coverage for day and court-day components begins January 1, 2026, or a later expressly stated section effective date. Year components begin no earlier than January 1, 2021, or the section’s later stated effective date, and assume the current reviewed branch applies. These are software coverage boundaries, not findings that an actual act is late. Displayed final dates are confined to the independently reviewed 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. Closed backward base boundaries and closed minimum-deposition boundaries receive no computed or paid date because their exact adjustment is not implemented. Earlier editions, emergency measures, tolling, different service methods and actual additional closures require separate review.

Fictitious example

Use an ordinary civil summons, legally completed service and no altered pleading deadline. Unlawful detainer uses its separate statute. Only the disclosed component is supported. Additional actual closures, altered orders and excluded service methods require separate review. The disclosed component, effective personal or specified nonmail service and no changed order.

Fictitious facts within the stated coverage. This is the disclosed component, not a determination of legal accrual, effective service, court action or entitlement. No tolling, different service addition, altered order or additional closure is assumed. Closed unsupported base branches receive no computed date.

Different service completion

CCP 415.30 mail-and-acknowledgment service becomes complete on the acknowledgment execution date, if returned. Mailing alone is not the summons trigger.

Pleading extensions

A qualifying demurrer declaration and a timely CCP 418.10 motion have distinct extension conditions. Do not assume filing any motion stops the answer period.

Service methods and distinct statutory additions

These base components do not add mail, electronic, fax, express or overnight service time. CCP 1013 and 1010.6 identify eligible additions, service conditions and express exceptions. CCP 1005 supplies its own motion-delivery provisions and excludes CCP 1013 for its identified notices. New-trial and CCP 663a intention-notice filings do not receive the stated mail or electronic additions. Establish the actual service method and governing procedure before applying any addition. A summons-service completion event is not determined by the general document-service addition.

Edition and calendar coverage

The official sections were reviewed, including the retained 2026 and operative-2027 CCP 473 and 415.20 editions. Publication coverage for day and court-day components begins January 1, 2026, or a later expressly stated section effective date. Year components begin no earlier than January 1, 2021, or the section’s later stated effective date, and assume the current reviewed branch applies. These are software coverage boundaries, not findings that an actual act is late. Displayed final dates are confined to the independently reviewed 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. Closed backward base boundaries and closed minimum-deposition boundaries receive no computed or paid date because their exact adjustment is not implemented. Earlier editions, emergency measures, tolling, different service methods and actual additional closures require separate review.

• Use an ordinary civil summons, legally completed service and no altered pleading deadline. Unlawful detainer uses its separate statute. Only the disclosed component is supported. Additional actual closures, altered orders and excluded service methods require separate review.
• The base calculation does not resolve the excluded comparisons or establish that the responsible actor completed the required act.

• Legally completed service of the summons on this defendant
• Record how and when service became complete. Substitute service is complete on the tenth day after mailing under CCP 415.20; it is not complete merely when papers are left.
• CCP 415.30 mail-and-acknowledgment service becomes complete on the acknowledgment execution date, if returned. Mailing alone is not the summons trigger.
• A qualifying demurrer declaration and a timely CCP 418.10 motion have distinct extension conditions. Do not assume filing any motion stops the answer period.
• File the required written pleading in the identified court and preserve its filing confirmation. The summons warns that inaction can permit default.
• Where filing is required, distinguish accepted filing from service. CCP 1010.6(e)(3) gives the stated same-court-day treatment to qualifying electronic court receipt between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59:59 p.m.; noncourt-day receipt is deemed on the next court day. Its confirmation and rejection provisions still matter. Preserve the accepted filing confirmation, effective service evidence and applicable local requirements. Court-office paper availability and case-specific orders require separate review. This does not turn a service-only response, court determination, completed discovery or trial commencement into a filing-only act.