(a) Every pleading shall be subscribed by the party or his or her attorney. When the state, any county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, or any officer of the state, or of any county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, in his or her official capacity, is plaintiff, the answer shall be verified, unless an admission of the truth of the complaint might subject the party to a criminal prosecution, or, unless a county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, or an officer of the state, or of any county, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, in his or her official capacity, is defendant. When the complaint is verified, the answer shall be verified. In all cases of a verification of a pleading, the affidavit of the party shall state that the same is true of his own knowledge, except as to the matters which are therein stated on his or her information or belief, and as to those matters that he or she believes it to be true; and where a pleading is verified, it shall be by the affidavit of a party, unless the parties are absent from the county where the attorney has his or her office, or from some cause unable to verify it, or the facts are within the knowledge of his or her attorney or other person verifying the same. When the pleading is verified by the attorney, or any other person except one of the parties, he or she shall set forth in the affidavit the reasons why it is not made by one of the parties. When a corporation is a party, the verification may be made by any officer thereof. When the state, any county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, or an officer of the state, or of any county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, in his or her official capacity is plaintiff, the complaint need not be verified; and if the state, any county thereof, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, or an officer of such state, county, city, school district, district, public agency, or public corporation, in his or her official capacity is defendant, its or his or her answer need not be verified. When the verification is made by the attorney for the reason that the parties are absent from the county where he or she has his or her office, or from some other cause are unable to verify it, or when the verification is made on behalf of a corporation or public agency by any officer thereof, the attorney's or officer's affidavit shall state that he or she has read the pleading and that he or she is informed and believes the matters therein to be true and on that ground alleges that the matters stated therein are true. However, in those cases the pleadings shall not otherwise be considered as an affidavit or declaration establishing the facts therein alleged. A person verifying a pleading need not swear to the truth or his or her belief in the truth of the matters stated therein but may, instead, assert the truth or his or her belief in the truth of those matters "under penalty of perjury."
§ 446.Generally
Title 6. Of the Pleadings In Civil Actions · Chapter 6. Verification of Pleadings · Enacted 1994 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 446 requires every pleading to be signed by the party or the attorney, requires verification under oath mainly for answers to complaints filed by a public entity and for any pleading responding to one already verified, and sets out who may sign a verification and what it must state.
Full Text of § 446
(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1999, unless a statute that becomes effective on or before this date extends or deletes the repeal date of Section 446, as amended by Assembly Bill 3594 of the 1993-94 Regular Session.
Plain-English Summary
Every pleading has to be signed, subscribed, in the rule’s word, by the party or by the party’s attorney. Verification, meaning the pleading is sworn to under oath, is a separate and narrower requirement. When the state, a county, city, school district, or other public agency, or a public officer acting in an official capacity, is the plaintiff, the defendant’s answer must be verified, with two exceptions: when admitting the truth of the complaint might expose the defendant to criminal prosecution, and when the defendant is itself one of those same public entities or officers. Beyond that trigger, the general rule is reciprocal: once a complaint is verified, the answer to it must be verified too.
A verification has to say the pleading is true of the signer’s own knowledge, except for matters stated on information and belief, which the signer must believe to be true. It is ordinarily made by a party, not the attorney, unless the parties are absent from the county where the attorney’s office is, are otherwise unable to verify it, or the relevant facts are known to the attorney or some other person instead of to the party. Whenever someone other than a party signs the verification, that person’s affidavit must explain why a party did not sign it instead. When the signer is a corporation, any of its officers may verify on its behalf.
The public-entity trigger runs in both directions: when a public entity or officer is the plaintiff, its own complaint need not be verified, and when a public entity or officer is the defendant, its own answer need not be verified either. When an attorney verifies because the parties are unavailable, or an officer verifies for a corporation or public agency, the affidavit must say the signer has read the pleading and is informed and believes the matters in it to be true. That statement, though, does not turn the pleading into evidence: the rule specifically says it is not to be treated as an affidavit or declaration establishing the facts alleged.
Instead of swearing to an affidavit before a notary, a person verifying a pleading may assert its truth, or belief in its truth, under penalty of perjury, the declaration format used throughout modern California practice in place of a formal oath.
Frequently Asked Questions
When must a pleading be verified in California?
Mainly when the plaintiff is the state, a county, city, school district, or other public entity, or a public officer acting officially; in that situation the defendant’s answer must be verified unless doing so would expose the defendant to criminal liability or the defendant is itself a public entity or officer. Once a complaint is verified, the answer responding to it must be verified as well.
Who is allowed to sign a verification?
Ordinarily the party itself. An attorney or another non-party may sign instead only if the parties are absent from the county where the attorney’s office is, are otherwise unable to verify the pleading, or the relevant facts are known to the attorney or that other person instead of the party, and whoever signs in the party’s place must explain why in the affidavit.
What must a verification affidavit or declaration say?
It must state that the pleading is true based on the signer’s own knowledge, except for matters stated on information and belief, which the signer must state a belief in.
Can a verification be made under penalty of perjury instead of before a notary?
Yes. § 446 allows a person verifying a pleading to assert its truth, or belief in its truth, “under penalty of perjury” instead of swearing to a formal affidavit.
If my attorney verifies the pleading instead of me, what does that accomplish?
The attorney’s affidavit must state that the attorney has read the pleading and is informed and believes the matters in it to be true. That statement lets the pleading be verified when the client cannot sign, but it does not make the pleading itself count as an affidavit or declaration proving the facts alleged.
Does a public entity have to verify its own complaint or answer?
No. When a public entity or public officer acting officially is the plaintiff, its complaint need not be verified, and when one is the defendant, its answer need not be verified either.
Amendment History
Repealed (in Sec. 4) and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1062, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1995. Section operative January 1, 1999, by its own provisions.
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: verification of pleadings californiaverified complaint californiaverified answer california requirementdeclaration under penalty of perjury pleading california