Whoever pays money, or delivers an instrument or property, is entitled to a receipt therefor from the person to whom the payment or delivery is made, and may demand a proper signature to such receipt as a condition of the payment or delivery.
§ 2075.Right to receipt for payment or delivery
Title 6. Of Evidence in Particular Cases, and Miscellaneous and General Provisions · Chapter 1. Evidence in Particular Cases · Enacted 1872 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2075 entitles anyone who pays money or delivers an instrument or property to demand a receipt from the recipient, and lets the payer withhold payment or delivery until the recipient signs that receipt.
Full Text of § 2075
Plain-English Summary
This section gives the paying or delivering side a plain form of protection: proof. Whoever hands over money, or delivers a written instrument or item of property, can insist on a receipt from the person receiving it. Without that right, a payer would have to rely on the recipient’s later cooperation, or on other evidence, to show that payment or delivery ever happened, and what it covered.
The section goes further than just granting a right to ask. It lets the payer demand a proper signature on the receipt as a condition of completing the payment or delivery in the first place. That sequencing matters: rather than paying first and hoping a signed receipt follows, the payer can hold back until the paperwork is in hand, securing the record before parting with the money, instrument, or property rather than trusting the recipient to supply it afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a person paying money require a signed receipt before completing the payment?
Yes. Section 2075 lets the payer demand a proper signature on the receipt as a condition of making the payment or delivery.
Does this right apply only to money, or also to instruments and property?
It covers all three: money paid, and any written instrument or property delivered.
Who has to produce the receipt, the payer or the recipient?
The recipient, the person to whom the payment or delivery is made, is the one who owes the receipt.
Is a receipt automatic, or does the payer have to ask for it?
The payer has to demand it; the section grants an entitlement to a receipt on request rather than requiring one to be issued unprompted.
Amendment History
(Enacted in 1872.)
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: ccp 2075 right to receipt for paymentdemand signed receipt before paying californiareceipt for delivery of instrument or property