How to File a Motion to Advance a Hearing Date in California

To file a motion to advance a hearing date in California, prepare a written motion supported by a sworn declaration showing good cause, file it with the court clerk with the $60 fee, serve every other party on the timeline set by Code of Civil Procedure Section 1005, and appear at the hearing where a judge decides whether to move the date up.¹² If you need the date moved sooner than the standard motion timeline allows, the route is an ex parte application, which is covered further down. Rule 3.1335 governs requests to advance a trial date and requires an “affirmative showing of good cause” supported by a declaration; the same good-cause standard applies when you’re asking the court to move up a motion hearing already on calendar.

What Counts as Good Cause

Good cause means something beyond ordinary inconvenience. The court weighs your reasons against the disruption a schedule change causes to the other parties and the court’s calendar. Personal scheduling problems and poor planning will not clear the bar.

Reasons courts commonly accept include:

Serious illness of a party or witness that could prevent participation if the hearing proceeds as scheduled.
Advanced age of a party, particularly when health concerns make delay risky.
Imminent irreparable harm, such as a looming financial loss or asset dissipation that cannot be undone if the court waits.
A key witness who is available on an earlier date but unavailable on the currently scheduled one.

File as soon as the need for an earlier date becomes clear. Judges are skeptical of urgency claims from parties who sat on the issue for weeks. If the facts supporting good cause arose recently, say so in your declaration.

The Documents You Prepare

The motion package has several pieces. Some California courts have local forms for advancing hearing dates, but you’ll typically draft these yourself on 28-line pleading paper.

Notice of Motion and Motion

The notice of motion tells the other parties what you’re asking for and when the judge will hear the request, including date, time, department, and location. The motion itself lays out the legal basis, cites Rule 3.1335, and summarizes why good cause exists.¹

Declaration in Support

This is the heart of the motion. A declaration is a written statement signed under penalty of perjury laying out the specific facts that establish good cause. Don’t speak in generalities. If the reason involves a medical situation, attach a letter from the doctor. If a witness has travel conflicts, include an itinerary or a separate sworn statement from them. Judges decide on evidence, not assertions.

You can use the Judicial Council’s Declaration form MC-030 and, if you need extra pages, the Attached Declaration form MC-031.³⁴

Proposed Order

This is the document the judge signs if the motion is granted. It should clearly state the new hearing or trial date you’re requesting. Having it ready removes an extra step.

Check your local court’s website for additional requirements. Some courts require a memorandum of points and authorities; others have local forms or specific formatting rules.

Filing and the Fee

File your completed documents with the court clerk in person, by mail, or through the court’s electronic filing system. The filing fee for a motion requiring a hearing is $60.²

If you can’t afford the fee, request a fee waiver on form FW-001. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits such as Medi-Cal or CalFresh, if your household income falls below specified limits, or if paying court fees would prevent you from covering basic needs.⁵ Submit the fee waiver request with your motion papers.

Serving the Other Parties

After filing, you must formally deliver copies of everything to every other party in the case. This is not optional, and getting it wrong can sink the motion.

Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1005, motion papers must be served at least 16 court days before the hearing. If you serve by mail within California, add five calendar days. If either the mailing address or destination is outside California but within the United States, add 10 calendar days. For overnight delivery or fax, add two calendar days.⁶

Service must be handled by someone at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case, either by personal delivery or mail. That person then completes and signs a Proof of Service form (POS-040), which you file with the court to prove everyone was properly notified.⁷ File this proof no later than five court days before the hearing.

When You Can’t Wait: Ex Parte Applications

Once you factor in service deadlines, a standard noticed motion takes roughly three weeks of lead time. When that’s too slow, California allows an ex parte application to shorten the notice period or advance the hearing date on very short notice. The bar is higher than a regular motion.

An ex parte application must show irreparable harm, immediate danger, or another statutory basis for emergency relief.⁸ You must notify all other parties no later than 10:00 a.m. the court day before your ex parte appearance.⁹ If notice goes out after that deadline, you have to explain what exceptional circumstances prevented earlier notice.

The application must include a declaration describing the notice you gave, including when, how, and to whom.⁸ You also need a separate declaration explaining the emergency and a proposed order specifying the requested new hearing date, when opposition and reply papers would be due under the shortened timeline, and how papers should be served. Judges routinely deny these applications when the “emergency” is really just a party who waited too long, so be ready to show a genuine time-sensitive problem.

What Happens After You File

Opposition and Reply

The other side can file an opposition explaining why the court should deny your request. Opposition papers must be filed and served at least nine court days before the hearing. Unlike your original motion papers, opposition and reply papers must be served by personal delivery, fax, overnight mail, or another method reasonably calculated to ensure next-business-day delivery. If an opposition is filed, you may reply. Reply papers must be filed and served at least five court days before the hearing.⁶ Use the reply to address the opposition’s arguments, not to raise new evidence you should have included the first time.

Tentative Rulings and the Hearing

Many California courts issue tentative rulings the afternoon before the hearing, often by 3:00 p.m. In courts that require notice of intent to appear, the tentative ruling becomes the final order unless a party contacts the court to request oral argument.¹⁰ Check your local court’s procedures; not every court uses the same system, and some don’t issue tentatives at all.

At the hearing, both sides present argument. California courts generally allow remote appearances at civil hearings, though a judge may require you to appear in person if circumstances warrant.¹¹ If the judge grants your motion, they sign the proposed order and the clerk sets the new date. If denied, the original date stands.

A Faster Path for Elderly or Seriously Ill Parties

If you’re moving a trial date rather than a motion hearing, and a party’s age or health is the reason, Code of Civil Procedure Section 36 offers a stronger tool than the ordinary good-cause motion. A party over 70 years old can petition for a mandatory trial preference, and the court must grant it if the party has a substantial interest in the case and their health makes an earlier trial necessary to protect that interest.¹² The judge has no discretion to deny it once both conditions are established.

For parties who are terminally ill or face a condition raising substantial doubt about survival beyond six months, the court has discretion to grant preference if the request is supported by clear and convincing medical documentation.¹² This one is not automatic; the judge weighs whether the interests of justice support it.

Once preference is granted, the trial must be set within 120 days. Continuances beyond that window are permitted only for a party’s or attorney’s physical disability, or on a showing of good cause stated in the record, and any single continuance cannot exceed 15 days. The motion must include a declaration that all essential parties have been served or have appeared.¹²

Check Your Discovery Deadlines Before You File

Moving a trial date forward compresses the whole case timeline, and this catches parties off guard. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 2024.020, all discovery must be completed by the 30th day before the initial trial date, and discovery motions must be heard by the 15th day before that date.¹³

If your motion to advance is granted, the new date becomes your benchmark for discovery deadlines. A continuance of the trial date, by contrast, does not automatically reopen discovery; you’d need a separate court order for that.¹³ Before you file, count backward from your proposed new trial date and confirm you have time to finish depositions, document requests, and any other outstanding discovery. Advancing the trial and then discovering you can’t put on the evidence you need is worse than the wait.

1
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2026 – Rule 3.1335 Motion or Application to Advance, Specially Set, or Reset Trial Date
2
Superior Court of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule
3
California Courts. Declaration MC-030
4
California Courts Self Help Guide. Attached Declaration MC-031
5
California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1005
7
Judicial Council of California. Proof of Service – Civil
8
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court – Rule 3.1204 Contents of Notice and Declaration Regarding Notice
9
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court – Rule 3.1203 Time of Notice to Other Parties
10
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1308 – Tentative Rulings
11
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court – Rule 3.672 Remote Proceedings
12
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 36
13
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2024.020