(a) The plaintiff's application for a right to attach order and a writ of attachment pursuant to this title may include an estimate of the costs and allowable attorney's fees.
§ 482.110.Estimate of Costs and Allowable Attorney's Fees
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 2. General Provisions · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 482.110 lets a plaintiff’s attachment application include an estimate of costs and allowable attorney’s fees, and lets the court, at its discretion, include an estimated amount for those costs and fees in the amount the attachment secures.
Full Text of § 482.110
(b) In the discretion of the court, the amount to be secured by the attachment may include an estimated amount for costs and allowable attorney's fees.
Plain-English Summary
An attachment does not have to secure only the bare debt claimed. Section 482.110(a) lets the plaintiff’s application for a right to attach order and writ of attachment include an estimate of the costs and allowable attorney’s fees the plaintiff expects to incur. Subdivision (b) leaves it to the court’s discretion whether to fold that estimated amount into the total secured by the attachment.
This estimate becomes one of the building blocks in the formula for the amount an attachment secures under § 483.015(a)(2) (and the parallel unlawful detainer formula in § 483.020(a)(3)), so a plaintiff who wants the attachment to cover anticipated litigation costs and fees, not just the principal claimed, needs to request that estimate up front.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an attachment secure more than the debt itself?
Yes. Section 482.110 lets the court include an estimated amount for costs and allowable attorney’s fees in the total the attachment secures, on top of the underlying debt.
Is including a cost and fee estimate automatic?
No. Section 482.110(b) leaves it to the court’s discretion whether to include an estimated amount for costs and allowable attorney’s fees.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 437.
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: attorney fees estimate attachment californiaamount secured by attachment costs