Before you start
The Requests for Admission may be on a form, Requests for Admission (form DISC-020), or may be typed up by the opposing party or their attorney. If it's not a form, the document will typically say Requests for Admission in the title.
Make sure that you are listed as the Answering or Responding party. If it lists someone else, you do not need to respond to these requests, they are provided for your information.
You have 30 days to respond to a Requests for Admission. If you were served by mail, you typically have 35 days from the date of mailing to respond.
There is no form for your answer, but you typically have to respond in a specified format, using paper with numbers down the left-hand side, with your name and address at the top left, the name of the court and of the case, and the case number. A sample of this format is included in the steps below.
EXAMPLE
If you're a defendant in a debt defense case, a request for admission might ask you to admit “You never disputed any of the charges in the monthly billing statements you received for the account alleged in the complaint.”
ADMIT
If you answer "Admit," you establish that you did not dispute the charges, and you would be prevented from saying that you disputed any charges at trial.
DENY
You might answer “Deny” if you did contact the plaintiff to dispute one or more of the charges. If you deny it, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.
LACK INFORMATION
You might answer that you lack information if you don’t know for sure whether you disputed any charges, and you have no means of finding out. If you respond this way, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.
If you deny something that is proven true at trial, you could be held responsible for the cost of proving that it's true.
How to respond to Requests for Admission
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Download the blank response template and fill in basic information
There is no form for your answer, but you typically have to respond in a specified format, using paper with numbers down the left-hand side, with your name and address at the top left, the name of the court and of the case, and the case number. This is called "pleading" paper. You may create pleading paper in your word processor, or download the sample pleading paper captioned and formatted for your answer below:
The checkbox responses template has checkbox answers that are suitable for filling out by hand. Complete the top caption with your name, address, and telephone number, the names of the parties in your case, and case number. Copy the name of the Asking Party, Answering Party, and Set Number from the form interrogatories.
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Prepare the template for your responses
Whether on a form or not, the request will have a numbered list of facts and/or documents that the opposing side wishes to be admitted as true or genuine.
Make a list in your template. For each numbered request, write “Response to Request for Admission number” followed by the number of the request.
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example
Response to Request for Admission number 1:
Response to Request for Admission number 2:
Response to Request for Admission number 3:
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Read and answer the questions
Read the items in the list very carefully.
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If the fact that is stated is true, write or check the word “Admit.”
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If the fact that is stated is not true, write or check the word “Deny.”
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If you are not able to determine if it is true, write or check “Answering party lacks information and belief sufficient to determine the truth or falsity of the request despite a reasonable inquiry into the matter and therefore denies.”
It is also possible that you might object to the question. To raise an objection, you write or check “Responding party objects on the grounds” followed by the why you object.
EXAMPLE:
If you're a defendant in a debt defense case, a request for admission might ask you to admit “You never disputed any of the charges in the monthly billing statements you received for the account alleged in the complaint.”ADMIT
If you answer "Admit," you establish that you did not dispute the charges, and you would be prevented from saying that you disputed any charges at trial.DENY
You might answer “Deny” if you did contact the plaintiff to dispute one or more of the charges. If you deny it, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.LACK INFORMATION
You might answer that you lack information if you don’t know for sure whether you disputed any charges, and you have no means of finding out. If you respond this way, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.
If you deny something that is proven true at trial, you could be held responsible for the cost of proving that it's true. -
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Sign the document
Once you are done, date and sign under the language “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing answers are true and correct.” By signing, you are stating that your answers are true and you could be prosecuted for perjury if they are not.
This perjury language is called a “verification,” and is required unless your responses contain only objections. For anything other than objections, if this language is missing it is considered the same as not responding at all.
Responding to discovery requests
What's next?
After you complete your response, you’ll need to share your responses with the opposing side. You follow a specific court process to do this called serving papers.