(a) One who desires to perpetuate testimony or preserve evidence for the purposes set forth in Section 2035.010 shall file a verified petition in the superior court of the county of the residence of at least one expected adverse party, or, if no expected adverse party is a resident of the State of California, in the superior court of a county where the action or proceeding may be filed.
§ 2035.030.Filing of verified petition; form and content of petition; court order
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 19. Perpetuation of Testimony or Preservation of Evidence Before Filing Action · Last amended 2005 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2035.030 requires a person seeking to perpetuate testimony or preserve evidence before filing suit to file a verified petition in the proper superior court naming the expected adverse parties, describing the anticipated action, the desired discovery methods, the facts to be established, and the substance of the information sought from each witness, and requesting a court order authorizing that discovery.
Full Text of § 2035.030
(b) The petition shall be titled in the name of the one who desires the perpetuation of testimony or the preservation of evidence. The petition shall set forth all of the following:
(1) The expectation that the petitioner or the petitioner's successor in interest will be a party to an action cognizable in a court of the State of California.
(2) The present inability of the petitioner and, if applicable, the petitioner's successor in interest either to bring that action or to cause it to be brought.
(3) The subject matter of the expected action and the petitioner's involvement. A copy of any written instrument the validity or construction of which may be called into question, or which is connected with the subject matter of the proposed discovery, shall be attached to the petition.
(4) The particular discovery methods described in Section 2035.020 that the petitioner desires to employ.
(5) The facts that the petitioner desires to establish by the proposed discovery.
(6) The reasons for desiring to perpetuate or preserve these facts before an action has been filed.
(7) The name or a description of those whom the petitioner expects to be adverse parties so far as known.
(8) The name and address of those from whom the discovery is to be sought.
WESTLAW © 2026 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 § 2035.030. Filing of verified petition; form and content of petition; court order, CA CIV PRO § 2035.030
(9) The substance of the information expected to be elicited from each of those from whom discovery is being sought.
(c) The petition shall request the court to enter an order authorizing the petitioner to engage in discovery by the described methods for the purpose of perpetuating the described testimony or preserving the described evidence.
Plain-English Summary
This section spells out both where to file a pre-filing discovery petition and what it has to contain. Venue turns on the expected adverse party: the petition goes in the superior court of the county where at least one expected adverse party lives, and only if none of them lives in California does the petitioner get to file instead in a county where the eventual action could be brought. The petition itself has to be verified and titled in the name of the person seeking the discovery.
The substance required is detailed enough to let the court, and the parties on notice, evaluate the request rather than rubber-stamp it. The petition has to explain why the petitioner, or its successor in interest, expects to become a party to a California action, and why that action cannot be brought now. It has to describe the subject matter of the expected case and the petitioner's connection to it, attaching a copy of any written instrument bearing on that subject matter. And it has to lay out the mechanics of the discovery itself: which methods from Section 2035.020 the petitioner wants to use, what facts the petitioner hopes to establish, why those facts need to be locked in before the case is filed, who the expected adverse parties are, and, for each source of discovery, that source's name and address along with the substance of what the petitioner expects to learn from it. The petition ends by asking the court for an order authorizing exactly that discovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
In which superior court must a Chapter 19 petition be filed?
The county where at least one expected adverse party resides, or, if none resides in California, a county where the anticipated action could be filed.
Must the petition be verified?
Yes, and it must be titled in the name of the person seeking to perpetuate testimony or preserve evidence.
What must the petition say about the anticipated lawsuit?
Why the petitioner or its successor in interest expects to become a party to a California action, why that action cannot yet be brought, the subject matter involved, and the petitioner's connection to it.
Does the petition have to identify who will receive the discovery requests?
Yes. It must give the name and address of each person or organization from whom discovery is sought, and describe the substance of what the petitioner expects to learn from each.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2005, c. 294 (A.B.333), § 14.)
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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