(a) Every material allegation of the complaint or cross-complaint, not controverted by the answer, shall, for the purposes of the action, be taken as true.
§ 431.20.Material Allegation Not Controverted Taken As True; Statement of New Matter In Answer Deemed Controverted
Title 6. Of the Pleadings In Civil Actions · Chapter 3. Objections to Pleadings; Denials and Defenses · Article 2. Denials and Defenses · Enacted 1971 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 431.20 provides that every material allegation of a complaint or cross-complaint not controverted by the answer is taken as true for purposes of the action, while any new matter the answer raises is deemed controverted at trial.
Full Text of § 431.20
(b) The statement of any new matter in the answer, in avoidance or constituting a defense, shall, on the trial, be deemed controverted by the opposite party.
Plain-English Summary
Section 431.20 states the default rule for what happens when a pleading goes unanswered on a particular point. Subdivision (a): every material allegation of the complaint or cross-complaint that the answer does not controvert is taken as true for purposes of the action.
Subdivision (b) works the other way for the defendant's own new matter. Any new matter the answer raises — an affirmative defense, for instance — is deemed controverted by the opposite party at trial, even though the plaintiff files no further pleading responding to it. The plaintiff does not need to file a reply denying new matter in the answer for that new matter to remain contested.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to an allegation in a complaint that the answer does not deny?
Section 431.20(a) provides that an uncontroverted material allegation is taken as true for purposes of the action.
Does a plaintiff need to file a reply denying new matter raised in an answer?
No. Section 431.20(b) automatically deems any new matter in the answer controverted at trial, without requiring a separate responsive pleading from the plaintiff.
What is a "material allegation" for purposes of § 431.20?
It carries the definition set out in § 431.10(a): an allegation essential to the claim or defense, one that could not be removed without leaving the pleading insufficient.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 244.
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: uncontroverted allegations taken as true