In computing the time within which service must be made pursuant to this article, there shall be excluded the time during which any of the following conditions existed:
§ 583.240.Exclusions When Computing Time
Title 8. Of the Trial and Judgment In Civil Actions · Chapter 1.5. Dismissal for Delay in Prosecution · Article 2. Mandatory Time for Service of Summons · Enacted 1705 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 583.240 excludes from the three-year service deadline any time the defendant wasn't amenable to court process, any stay that affected service, any period when the validity of service was being litigated, or any other period when service was impossible, impracticable, or futile for reasons beyond the plaintiff's control.
Full Text of § 583.240
(a) The defendant was not amenable to the process of the court.
(b) The prosecution of the action or proceedings in the action was stayed and the stay affected service.
(c) The validity of service was the subject of litigation by the parties.
(d) Service, for any other reason, was impossible, impracticable, or futile due to causes beyond the plaintiff's control. Failure to discover relevant facts or evidence is not a cause beyond the plaintiff's control for the purpose of this subdivision.
Plain-English Summary
The three-year service clock doesn't run through periods when service truly couldn't happen. Time is excluded from the count when the defendant wasn't amenable to the court's process — for instance, out of the jurisdiction's reach — or when a stay of the action or proceedings affected the ability to serve.
Time spent litigating whether service was valid in the first place is also excluded, as is any other period when service was impossible, impracticable, or futile for reasons outside the plaintiff's control. That last catch-all comes with a limit built in: a plaintiff's own failure to discover facts or evidence relevant to locating or identifying the defendant doesn't count as a cause beyond the plaintiff's control for this purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of delay stop the three-year service clock from running?
Periods when the defendant wasn't amenable to the court's process, when a stay affected service, when the validity of service itself was being litigated, or when service was otherwise impossible, impracticable, or futile for reasons beyond the plaintiff's control.
Does a plaintiff's own failure to find the defendant toll the deadline?
No. Section 583.240(d) specifically excludes a failure to discover relevant facts or evidence from counting as a cause beyond the plaintiff's control.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1705, Sec. 5.
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: tolling three year service deadline californiaexclusions computing service time california