(a) Where objections to the right to take are raised, unless the court orders otherwise, they shall be heard and determined prior to the determination of the issue of compensation.
§ 1260.110.Hearing Objections
Title 7. Eminent Domain Law · Chapter 8. Procedures for Determining Right to Take and Compensation · Article 2. Contesting Right to Take · Enacted 1975 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1260.110 requires objections to the plaintiff's right to take property to be heard and decided before the compensation issue, unless the court orders otherwise, and lets the court specially set those objections for trial on a party's motion after notice and hearing.
Full Text of § 1260.110
(b) The court may, on motion of any party, after notice and hearing, specially set such objections for trial.
Plain-English Summary
A defendant who has objected to the plaintiff's right to take property under Article 5 of Chapter 5 (§§ 1250.350-1250.370) eventually needs those objections tried and decided. This section sets the default order of operations: the right-to-take objections get heard and determined before the court ever reaches compensation, unless the court orders a different sequence.
That default isn't absolute. Either party can move -- on notice and after a hearing on the motion itself -- to have the right-to-take objections specially set for trial, giving the court flexibility to schedule that piece of the case separately from the rest of the proceeding when circumstances call for it.
Deciding the right-to-take question first makes practical sense: if the plaintiff doesn't have the right to acquire the property, under § 1260.120, there's often no need to litigate compensation for that property at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which comes first, the right-to-take objections or the compensation issue?
Right-to-take objections are heard and determined first, unless the court orders otherwise.
Can the right-to-take objections be scheduled separately from the rest of the case?
Yes, the court may, on a party's motion, after notice and hearing, specially set those objections for trial.
Why does this order matter?
If the plaintiff turns out not to have the right to take the property, the case may be dismissed as to that property under § 1260.120, which can make a separate compensation trial unnecessary.
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
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