(a) The Judicial Council shall develop and approve official forms for use in trial courts of this state for any complaint, cross-complaint or answer in any action based upon personal injury, property damage, wrongful death, unlawful detainer, breach of contract or fraud.
§ 425.12.Development and Approval of Forms
Title 6. Of the Pleadings In Civil Actions · Chapter 2. Pleadings Demanding Relief · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 1996 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 425.12 directs the Judicial Council to develop official statewide forms for complaints, cross-complaints, and answers in common categories of civil action, as well as a form for the statement of damages, drafted in plain language and consulted on with a broad advisory committee.
Full Text of § 425.12
(c) In developing the forms required by this section, the Judicial Council shall consult with a representative advisory committee which shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the plaintiff's bar, the defense bar, the public interest bar, court administrators and the public. The forms shall be drafted in nontechnical language and shall be made available through the office of the clerk of the appropriate trial court.
Plain-English Summary
Section 425.12 is an administrative directive rather than a pleading rule of its own. It requires the Judicial Council to develop and approve official forms for use across California's trial courts in specific kinds of cases — personal injury, property damage, wrongful death, unlawful detainer, breach of contract, and fraud — along with an official form for the statement of damages required under §§ 425.11 and 425.115.
Subdivision (c) sets a process for building those forms: consultation with a representative advisory committee that includes the plaintiff's bar, the defense bar, the public interest bar, court administrators, and the public. The forms themselves have to be drafted in nontechnical language and made available through the clerk's office.
The result is the set of Judicial Council form pleadings (form complaints, form statement-of-damages templates, and the like) that litigants encounter in these common case types — a standardization effort meant to make routine pleading more accessible without sacrificing the substantive content § 425.10 and its companion sections require.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do standardized Judicial Council form complaints exist in California?
Section 425.12(a) directs the Judicial Council to develop official forms for complaints, cross-complaints, and answers in personal injury, property damage, wrongful death, unlawful detainer, breach of contract, and fraud cases.
Is there an official form for the statement of damages?
Yes. Section 425.12(b) requires the Judicial Council to develop an official form for the statement of damages used under §§ 425.11 and 425.115.
Who has input into these official forms?
Section 425.12(c) requires the Judicial Council to consult a representative advisory committee including the plaintiff's bar, the defense bar, the public interest bar, court administrators, and the public, and to draft the forms in nontechnical language.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 796, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: judicial council form complaint californiaofficial statement of damages form california