§ 428.50.Time For Filing

Section 428.50 sets the filing clock for cross-complaints, and the deadline depends on which kind of cross-complaint is at issue. Subdivision (a) covers a cross-complaint against one of the parties who filed the complaint or cross-complaint against the cross-complainant — that document must be filed before or at the same time as the answer to the complaint or cross-complaint being answered. This is the compulsory-cross-complaint scenario § 426.30 addresses: the party has to get the related claim into the case at the same moment it responds, or risk losing it.

Subdivision (b) is more forgiving for any other cross-complaint — one that does not target the parties who sued the cross-complainant, such as a new third-party claim under § 428.10(b). That kind of cross-complaint may be filed at any time before the court has set a date for trial, without needing separate permission.

Subdivision (c) closes the gap for anything filed outside those two windows: any cross-complaint filed later than subdivision (a) or (b) allows requires leave of court, though the court may grant leave in the interest of justice at any time during the action. That flexible standard echoes § 426.50's liberal-construction instruction for a party who missed the compulsory deadline in good faith.