(a) A material allegation in a pleading is one essential to the claim or defense and which could not be stricken from the pleading without leaving it insufficient as to that claim or defense.
§ 431.10.Material Allegation Defined; Immaterial Allegation Defined
Title 6. Of the Pleadings In Civil Actions · Chapter 3. Objections to Pleadings; Denials and Defenses · Article 2. Denials and Defenses · Last amended 1986 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 431.10 defines a material allegation as one essential to a claim or defense whose removal would leave the pleading insufficient, and defines immaterial allegations as unnecessary, unsupported, or unsupported demands for relief, a term that also anchors the irrelevant-matter standard in § 436.
Full Text of § 431.10
(b) An immaterial allegation in a pleading is any of the following:
(1) An allegation that is not essential to the statement of a claim or defense.
(2) An allegation that is neither pertinent to nor supported by an otherwise sufficient claim or defense.
(3) A demand for judgment requesting relief not supported by the allegations of the complaint or cross-complaint.
Plain-English Summary
Section 431.10 supplies the vocabulary the rest of this chapter builds on. A material allegation, under subdivision (a), is one essential to a claim or defense — one that, if struck, would leave the pleading unable to support that claim or defense on its own.
Subdivision (b) defines immaterial allegations by three categories: an allegation not essential to stating a claim or defense; an allegation that is neither pertinent to nor supported by an otherwise sufficient claim or defense; and a demand for relief that the complaint's own allegations do not support.
Subdivision (c) ties this definition directly to the motion to strike: an immaterial allegation is what § 436 calls irrelevant matter. That link matters in practice — whether an allegation is material shapes both whether an unanswered allegation gets taken as true under § 431.20 and whether it can be struck under § 436.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes an allegation "material" under California pleading rules?
Section 431.10(a) defines a material allegation as one essential to a claim or defense — one that could not be removed without leaving the pleading insufficient to support that claim or defense.
What is an "immaterial allegation"?
Section 431.10(b) lists three kinds: allegations not essential to a claim or defense, allegations neither pertinent to nor supported by an otherwise sufficient claim or defense, and demands for relief the complaint's allegations do not support.
How does "immaterial allegation" relate to a motion to strike?
Section 431.10(c) equates an immaterial allegation with the "irrelevant matter" that § 436 authorizes a court to strike from a pleading.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 540, Sec. 2.
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: material allegation definition californiaimmaterial allegation california