(a) Witnesses may be required to appear and testify before the court or referee in an examination proceeding under this article in the same manner as upon the trial of an issue.
§ 708.130.Witnesses Required to Appear and Testify
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 6. Miscellaneous Creditors' Remedies · Article 2. Examination Proceedings · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 708.130 lets the court or referee compel witnesses to appear and testify at a debtor's examination the same way witnesses testify at trial, and suspends the marital privilege against adverse spousal testimony for the duration of that examination.
Full Text of § 708.130
(b) The privilege prescribed by Article 4 (commencing with Section 970) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code does not apply in an examination proceeding under this article.
Plain-English Summary
Examination proceedings aren't limited to questioning the debtor or the third person named in the order. This section lets the court or referee compel other witnesses to appear and testify, using the same procedures available at trial — subpoenas and all.
It also removes one evidentiary shield that would otherwise apply. The privilege against being called as a witness against one's spouse, set out in the Evidence Code beginning at § 970, doesn't apply in an examination proceeding under this article. A spouse can be required to testify about the debtor's assets even where that privilege would ordinarily let the spouse decline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can witnesses other than the debtor be compelled to testify at an examination proceeding?
Yes, under the same procedures used to compel witness testimony at trial.
Does the marital privilege protect a spouse from being questioned at a debtor's examination?
No. Section 708.130(b) removes that privilege specifically for examination proceedings under this article.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
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: witnesses at debtor examination californiamarital privilege debtor examination