California Form Interrogatories DISC-001 is a Judicial Council-approved checklist of pre-written questions you can send to another party in an unlimited civil case to make them answer under oath. You pick the topic categories relevant to your claims or defenses, check the boxes, sign the form, and serve it. Because the questions are pre-approved under Code of Civil Procedure Section 2033.710, the other side has fewer grounds to object to them than to questions you draft yourself.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2033.710 The current version (revised January 1, 2024) is available from the California Courts website.2California Courts. Form Interrogatories—General (DISC-001)
When You Can Use DISC-001
DISC-001 is built for unlimited civil cases, meaning the amount in controversy exceeds $35,000 or the plaintiff seeks something other than money.3Judicial Council of California. California Form Interrogatories—General If your case is a limited civil case ($35,000 or less), use Form DISC-004 instead. DISC-004 questions can be used in unlimited cases too, but DISC-001 questions should not be used in limited cases because many contain subparts that violate the limited-case discovery rules.
Picking the Categories That Fit Your Case
You don’t send every question on the form. The questions are grouped by numbered topics — identity of the person answering, background on individuals and business entities, insurance coverage, physical injuries, property damage, lost income, medical history, previous claims, investigation, statutory violations, defenses, responses to requests for admission, motor vehicle incidents, and contract disputes, among others.3Judicial Council of California. California Form Interrogatories—General You check the boxes next to the categories that apply.
Match categories to your theory of the case. In a car accident lawsuit, you’d likely check 1.0 (identity), 2.0 (individual background), 4.0 (insurance), 6.0 (injuries), 7.0 (property damage), 8.0 (lost income), 12.0 (investigation), and 20.0 (how the incident occurred). In a contract dispute, 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0, 4.0, 15.0 (denials and defenses), and 50.0 (contract) are the natural starting points. Once you select a category, the responding party must answer every sub-question within it.
No Cap on the Number of Questions
One of the biggest advantages of DISC-001 over custom questions is that form interrogatories have no numeric limit. CCP Section 2030.030 caps specially prepared interrogatories at 35 per party (unless you file a declaration of necessity) but explicitly allows “any additional number of official form interrogatories” on top of that limit.4California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.030 You can check every relevant category without watching a question count.
Limited civil cases are stricter. CCP Section 94 caps all discovery at a combined 35 requests across interrogatories, document demands, and requests for admission, with no subparts allowed.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 94 That’s another reason DISC-001, with its many subparts, is an unlimited-case tool.
Filling Out the Form
The form itself is short. The work is in choosing the right categories, not in drafting language.
- Enter the case caption exactly as it appears on your filed complaint or answer: full court name, courthouse branch address, and case number. A wrong branch name or missing case number gives the other side an easy objection.
- Identify yourself as the propounding party and the other side as the responding party, using the exact names from the court file.
- Mark the small boxes next to each numbered category you want answered. Within a category, you can check individual sub-questions if only some apply.
- Sign the form. The propounding party or their attorney signs, certifying the request is not being served for harassment or another improper purpose.
Double-check the court’s name and branch before finalizing. The court’s website lists the correct branch designation for your case number.
Serving DISC-001 on the Other Party
You cannot serve the form yourself. Anyone who serves legal papers must be at least 18 years old and not a party to the case.6California Courts. Serving Court Papers A friend, relative, coworker, professional process server, or county sheriff can handle it.
The most common method between attorneys, and between self-represented parties who have appeared in the case, is first-class mail. Personal delivery works too. Electronic service is available if the other party’s attorney has consented to it or if a court order requires it. Under CCP Section 1010.6, any party represented by counsel who has appeared in the case must accept electronic service of documents that could otherwise be mailed.7California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1010.6 Self-represented parties only receive electronic service if they affirmatively consent to it.
Whoever delivers the form completes a Proof of Service. For mail service, that’s Form POS-030.8California Courts. Proof of Service by First-Class Mail—Civil The person who mailed the documents fills out the form (not you), documenting what was sent, to whom, and when.9Judicial Council of California. Proof of Service by First-Class Mail—Civil Keep the original in your file. You generally don’t file the interrogatories or the proof of service with the court clerk unless you later need them for a motion or at trial.
Responding to DISC-001
If you received the form, your deadline to respond is 30 days from the date of service.10California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.260 That deadline shifts based on how the interrogatories reached you:
- Mail with both addresses in California: add 5 calendar days, for a total of 35 days.
- Mail with one address outside California but within the U.S.: add 10 calendar days, for a total of 40 days.
- Mail with one address outside the U.S.: add 20 calendar days, for a total of 50 days.
- Electronic service: add 2 court days under the California Rules of Court.
The mail extensions come from CCP Section 1013.11California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013
Format of the Response
Your response is a separate document, not a mark-up of the original form. CCP Section 2030.210 requires a written response to each interrogatory using the same numbering as the questions.12Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.210-2030.310 The first paragraph identifies the responding party, the set number (for example, “Set One”), and the propounding party. For each question, you either give a substantive answer, state an objection, or exercise your option to produce documents instead.
Every answer must be as complete and straightforward as the information reasonably available to you permits. If you can’t answer fully, answer to the extent you can and explain why. If you lack personal knowledge, say so, but make a good-faith effort first by asking other people or checking your records.
Verification Under Oath
The responding party must sign the response under oath. CCP Section 2030.250 requires this for any response containing substantive answers, as opposed to objections only.13Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.210-2030.310 – Section: 2030.250 If the responding party is a business, an officer or agent signs on the entity’s behalf. The attorney signs separately if the response includes any objections. A response without verification is treated as no response at all.
Objecting to Specific Questions
Form interrogatories are harder to object to than custom-drafted questions because the Judicial Council already vetted the language. Legitimate grounds still exist. You can object if a question seeks information protected by the attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine, if it isn’t relevant to the claims or defenses, or if answering would be unreasonably burdensome given the stakes.
Specificity is the rule. Boilerplate objections that recite every possible ground without explaining how any of them applies to the particular question are routinely overruled. State the exact reason the question is objectionable and connect it to the facts of your case. If you object to part of a question but can answer the rest, answer the non-objectionable portion. Courts expect it.
Missing the Response Deadline
Blowing the deadline has real consequences. Under CCP Section 2030.290, a party who fails to serve a timely response waives every objection to the interrogatories, including claims of privilege and work-product protection.14California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2030.290 The propounding party can then move to compel answers, and the court will almost certainly grant it.
A court can relieve you from that waiver, but only if you later serve a response that substantially complies with the code and you show the failure resulted from mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect. “I forgot” or “I was busy” rarely qualifies. If you need more time, get an extension in writing from the other side before the deadline passes.
Motions to Compel Better Answers
When the other side does respond but the answers are evasive, incomplete, or buried behind meritless objections, you can file a motion to compel further responses under CCP Section 2030.300.15California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.300 Before filing, you must meet and confer: contact the other side, identify each deficient response, and make a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute informally. Your motion must include a declaration describing those efforts, as required by CCP Section 2016.040.16California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2016.040
The deadline is strict. You must serve notice of the motion within 45 days after you receive the verified response, or by a later date you and the other party agreed to in writing. Miss the 45-day window and you permanently waive your right to compel a better answer.15California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2030.300 Check local rules before filing; some courts require an informal discovery conference first.
Sanctions for Discovery Abuse
CCP Section 2023.030 gives judges a graduated set of tools for discovery noncompliance.17California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2023.030
- Monetary sanctions are the most common outcome. The non-compliant party or their attorney pays the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred because of the discovery failure. Courts must impose monetary sanctions unless the violating party acted with substantial justification or the sanction would be unjust.
- Issue sanctions establish certain facts against the non-compliant party or bar that party from supporting or opposing specific claims.
- Evidence sanctions prohibit the non-compliant party from introducing designated evidence at trial.
- Terminating sanctions strike pleadings, dismiss the case, or enter default judgment. Courts reserve this for repeated, willful violations.
- Contempt treats the discovery abuse as contempt of court.
Terminating sanctions rarely come out of the blue. Courts almost always start with monetary sanctions and escalate only after a party ignores multiple orders. That escalation path is real, though, and ignoring interrogatories can ultimately cost you the case.
Amending an Answer Later
If new information surfaces after you’ve answered, CCP Section 2030.310 lets you serve an amended answer without court permission.18Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2030.210-2030.310 – Section: 2030.310 California is more permissive than the federal duty to supplement: you may amend when you discover new facts, realize you left something out, or need to correct a mistake. There’s a catch. The other side can use your original answer at trial, and you can then introduce the amended answer. If your original response was wrong or incomplete, that contrast can damage your credibility with a jury. Amend promptly whenever an earlier answer becomes inaccurate.