Upon the hearing the court shall receive such evidence as may be required and if the court is satisfied that the statements contained in the petition are true, it shall make an order reciting the existence, substance, genuineness or authenticity of the destroyed or lost memorandum, book, map, chart, manuscript, writing, account, entry, print, document, representation or combination thereof.
§ 1953.12.Evidence; contents of order
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 1953.12 directs the court, at the hearing, to receive whatever evidence is needed and, if satisfied the petition's statements are true, to make an order reciting the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of the destroyed or lost private record described in the petition.
Full Text of § 1953.12
Plain-English Summary
This section is the merits stage of the private-record reconstruction procedure. At the hearing, the court receives whatever evidence it needs to evaluate the petition, testimony, secondary documents, whatever helps establish what the lost or damaged item said or was.
If that evidence satisfies the court that the petition's statements are true, the court makes an order reciting the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of the memorandum, book, map, chart, manuscript, writing, account, entry, print, document, or representation the petition describes. That order becomes the court's official statement of what the private record was and that it was genuine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens at the hearing on a petition under this article?
The court receives the evidence needed to evaluate the petition's claims about the lost or damaged private record.
What must the court be satisfied of before making its order?
That the statements in the petition are true.
What does the court's order say?
It recites the existence, substance, genuineness, or authenticity of the destroyed or lost item described in the petition.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.1961, c. 1311, p. 3091, § 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: court order genuineness lost private documenthearing evidence destroyed record petition