(a) Each answer in a response to requests for admission shall be as complete and straightforward as the information reasonably available to the responding party permits.
§ 2033.220.Answers in response; form and content; obligations of responding party
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 16. Requests for Admission · Article 2. Response to Requests for Admission · Last amended 2005 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2033.220 requires every answer to a request for admission to be as complete and direct as the responding party's reasonably available information permits, admitting what is true, denying what is not, or specifying a lack of sufficient information after a reasonable inquiry, and requires the answer to state that a reasonable inquiry was made when information or knowledge is lacking.
Full Text of § 2033.220
(b) Each answer shall:
(1) Admit so much of the matter involved in the request as is true, either as expressed in the request itself or as reasonably and clearly qualified by the responding party.
(2) Deny so much of the matter involved in the request as is untrue.
(3) Specify so much of the matter involved in the request as to the truth of which the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge.
(c) If a responding party gives lack of information or knowledge as a reason for a failure to admit all or part of a request for admission, that party shall state in the answer that a reasonable inquiry concerning the matter in the particular request has been made, and that the information known or readily obtainable is insufficient to enable that party to admit the matter.
Plain-English Summary
This section sets the quality standard every answer to a request for admission has to meet. An answer must be as complete and direct as the information reasonably available to the responding party allows, and it has to do one of three things with the matter in the request: admit whatever part of it is true, as stated or as reasonably and clearly qualified by the responding party; deny whatever part is untrue; or specify that the truth of the matter is something the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge to admit or deny.
That third option is not a free pass to dodge an uncomfortable request. Subdivision (c) requires that a party relying on a lack of information or knowledge state in the answer that it made a reasonable inquiry concerning the matter, and that the information it knows or could readily obtain is still not enough to let it admit the request. A bare assertion of ignorance, without describing the inquiry behind it, does not satisfy this section, and a responding party who skips that inquiry risks the answer being treated as evasive or incomplete on a later motion to compel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What standard must an answer to a request for admission meet?
It must be as complete and direct as the information reasonably available to the responding party permits.
What are the three things an answer to a request for admission can do?
Admit the part of the matter that is true, deny the part that is untrue, or specify that the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge to admit or deny it.
Can a party just say it lacks information without doing anything else?
No. The responding party must also state in the answer that it made a reasonable inquiry into the matter and that the information available is still insufficient to admit the request.
Can a responding party qualify an admission rather than admitting the request outright?
Yes. An answer can admit so much of the matter as is true, as reasonably and clearly qualified by the responding party.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2005, c. 22 (S.B.1108), § 24.)
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
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