(a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), the court may allow upon such terms and conditions as may be just an amendment or supplement to any pleading. In the case of an amendment or supplement to the complaint, such terms and conditions may include a change in the applicable date of valuation for the proceeding and an award of costs and litigation expenses which would not have been incurred had the proceeding as originally commenced been the same as the proceeding following such amendment or supplement.
§ 1250.340.Amendment Or Supplement to Pleading
Title 7. Eminent Domain Law · Chapter 5. Commencement of Proceeding · Article 4. Pleadings · Enacted 1975 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1250.340 lets a court allow amendments or supplements to a pleading on just terms, including adjusting the valuation date and awarding costs caused by the change, but limits adding property to properly noticed public entities and limits removing property to the partial-abandonment procedure.
Full Text of § 1250.340
(c) Property previously sought to be taken may be deleted from the complaint only if the plaintiff has followed the procedure for partial abandonment of the proceeding as to that property.
Plain-English Summary
Pleadings in a long-running condemnation case rarely stay static, and this section gives the court room to allow changes while protecting the interests those changes might disturb. Subdivision (a) lets the court permit an amendment or supplement to any pleading on whatever terms and conditions are just — for a complaint, that can include shifting the applicable date of valuation and awarding costs and litigation expenses that would not have been incurred had the case been framed that way from the start.
Adding property to the case is not left to the court's general discretion alone. Subdivision (b) requires a public entity to have already adopted a resolution of necessity meeting § 1245.210's requirements for the specific property being added, before it can be folded into the complaint.
Removing property works through a different channel entirely. Subdivision (c) requires the plaintiff to use the partial-abandonment procedure for property previously sought and later dropped — a pleading amendment alone cannot delete property from the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the court let a party amend a pleading in an eminent domain case?
Yes, on just terms and conditions, under § 1250.340(a).
What can those terms and conditions include?
For a complaint amendment, a change in the applicable date of valuation and an award of costs and litigation expenses caused by the amendment.
Can a public entity add more property to the complaint whenever it wants?
Only if it has adopted a resolution of necessity meeting § 1245.210's requirements for that specific property.
How is property removed from a condemnation complaint?
Through the partial-abandonment procedure, not through an amendment alone.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1975, Ch. 1275.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: amending eminent domain complaintadding property to condemnation casepartial abandonment procedure