Limited Number of Specially Prepared Interrogatories in Family Law Litigation
CCP section 2030.030 limits the number of interrogatories that can be asked in a case to 35; however, all that is needed is a properly completed declaration for additional discovery in order to ask a greater number. If the other party asks more than 35 interrogatories but fails to submit the declaration, you can object to the additional questions so long as you do so within 30 days (plus 5 more mailing) from the date they mailed the questions.
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CALIFORNIA CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
WRITTEN INTERROGATORIES
C.C.P. Section 2030.050
Any party who is propounding or has propounded more than 35 specially prepared interrogatories to any other party shall attach to each set of those interrogatories a declaration containing substantially the following:
DECLARATION FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY
I, __________, declare: 1. I am (a party to this action or proceeding appearing in propria persona) (presently the attorney for __________, a party to this action or proceeding). 2. I am propounding to __________ the attached set of interrogatories. 3. This set of interrogatories will cause the total number of specially prepared interrogatories propounded to the party to whom they are directed to exceed the number of specially prepared interrogatories permitted by Section 2030.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 4. I have previously propounded a total of __________ interrogatories to this party, of which __________ interrogatories were not official form interrogatories. 5. This set of interrogatories contains a total of __________ specially prepared interrogatories. 6. I am familiar with the issues and the previous discovery conducted by all of the parties in the case. 7. I have personally examined each of the questions in this set of interrogatories. 8. This number of questions is warranted under Section 2030.040 of the Code of Civil Procedure because __________. (Here state each factor described in Section 2030.040 that is relied on, as well as the reasons why any factor relied on is applicable to the instant lawsuit.) 9. None of the questions in this set of interrogatories is being propounded for any improper purpose, such as to harass the party, or the attorney for the party, to whom it is directed, or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of California that the foregoing is true and correct, and that this declaration was executed on __________.
_______________________
(Signature)
Attorney for ______________