§ 2033.270.Retention of original requests, with proof of

Requests for admission and their responses generate paperwork that has no business cluttering a court file, and this section keeps them out of it. Neither the requests nor the responses to them are filed with the court, a rule consistent with how California treats most discovery exchanged directly between parties: the court gets involved only when a dispute over that discovery calls for a ruling.

Instead of court filing, this section imposes a retention duty on the requesting party. That party has to keep the original set of requests, with the original proof of service attached, along with the original sworn response, for six months after the action reaches its final disposition. Once that six-month window closes, both originals may be destroyed, unless a court, on a motion by any party and for good cause shown, orders that they be preserved longer, a safeguard for situations where the requests or responses might still matter after the case ends, in a related proceeding, an appeal, or a later dispute over what was admitted.