Any person, corporation, copartnership, organization, institution, business, member of profession or calling interested in establishing the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of any memorandum, book, map, chart, manuscript, writing, account, entry, record, print, document, representation, or combination thereof that has been damaged, rendered wholly or partially illegible, destroyed in whole or in part or lost by explosion, conflagration, earthquake, disaster or other public calamity, may apply by duly verified petition to the court for an order establishing, reciting, or declaring the existence, substance, genuineness or authenticity of the same.
§ 1953.10.Petition for order establishing existence, genuineness or authenticity
Title 2. Of the Kinds and Degrees of Evidence · Chapter 3. Writings · Article 4.5. Private Records Destroyed in Disaster or Calamity · Enacted 1961 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1953.10 lets any person, business, or organization interested in establishing the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of a private document that's been damaged, destroyed, or lost in an explosion, conflagration, earthquake, disaster, or other public calamity petition the court for an order establishing or declaring those facts.
Full Text of § 1953.10
Plain-English Summary
Article 4 handles official court and government records lost to fire or calamity; this article does the same job for private records, the ledgers, contracts, maps, and business papers that never sat in a courthouse to begin with. Section 1953.10 opens that parallel procedure by naming who can use it and what they're allowed to ask for.
Any person, corporation, partnership, organization, business, or professional interested in a memorandum, book, map, chart, manuscript, writing, account, entry, record, print, document, or representation, damaged, made partly or wholly illegible, destroyed in whole or in part, or lost through explosion, fire, earthquake, disaster, or other public calamity, can petition the court, by a duly verified petition, for an order establishing, reciting, or declaring that item's existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this article differ from Article 4's fire-and-calamity procedure?
Article 4 reconstructs official court and public records; this article covers private records, like business papers, maps, and personal documents, damaged or destroyed the same way.
What kinds of events trigger this procedure?
Explosion, conflagration, earthquake, disaster, or other public calamity that damages, destroys, or makes a private record illegible.
Who can file the petition?
Any person, corporation, partnership, organization, business, or member of a profession or calling with an interest in establishing the record's existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity.
What can the petition ask the court to do?
Issue an order establishing, reciting, or declaring the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of the damaged or destroyed item.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.1961, c. 1311, p. 3090, § 1.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: private records destroyed disaster californiapetition to reconstruct lost private document