Amending a Washington pleading: attach a copy marked "proposed," and leave it unsigned

Washington procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026

Washington's amendment rule is the familiar one with two mechanical requirements bolted on. Both are easy to miss and both are the kind of thing a court will make you redo.

One amendment as of course

CR 15(a):

A party may amend the party's pleading once as a matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is served or, if the pleading is one to which no responsive pleading is permitted and the action has not been placed upon the trial calendar, the party may so amend it at any time within 20 days after it is served. Otherwise, a party may amend the party's pleading only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party; and leave shall be freely given when justice so requires.

Two windows. The first runs until a responsive pleading is actually served — no fixed day count, unlike FRCP 15(a)(1)'s 21-day outer limit. A defendant who uses 19 of their 20 days to answer leaves the plaintiff free to amend as of course for all of that time.

The second window carries a condition most states don't impose: 20 days, and only if the action has not been placed upon the trial calendar. Once the case is set, that route closes even inside the 20 days.

The proposed pleading must be attached, and unsigned

The requirement that trips people:

If a party moves to amend a pleading, a copy of the proposed amended pleading, denominated "proposed" and unsigned, shall be attached to the motion. If a motion to amend is granted, the moving party shall thereafter file the amended pleading and, pursuant to rule 5, serve a copy thereof on all other parties.

Three separate obligations:

Attach the proposed pleading to the motion. Not a description of the changes — the pleading itself.
Label it "proposed" and leave it unsigned. Washington wants an unfiled document on the record until the court says yes, so the signature comes later. A signed copy attached to a motion is a filed pleading the court has not authorized.
After leave is granted, file and serve it separately. The attachment to the motion does not become the operative pleading on its own.

Skipping step 3 is the common error. A granted motion is not a filed amended complaint.

No writing on the original

CR 15(e), which has no federal counterpart:

No amendments shall be made to any pleading by erasing or adding words to the original on file, without first obtaining leave of court.

Interlineation — striking a word in the filed original, or writing one in — is itself an amendment requiring leave. Even a correction you would think of as clerical.

The other side's time to respond

A party shall plead in response to an amended pleading within the time remaining for response to the original pleading or within 10 days after service of the amended pleading, whichever period may be the longer, unless the court otherwise orders.

Whichever is longer, so an amendment served early in a defendant's 20 days does not shorten the original period. An amendment served late gives at least 10 days. Federal Rule 15(a)(3) uses 14 days for the same purpose.

Amendments to conform to the evidence

CR 15(b) covers two situations.

Tried by consent. "When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, they shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings." An amendment to conform may be made on motion of any party "at any time, even after judgment; but failure so to amend does not affect the result of the trial of these issues."

Objection at trial. Where evidence is objected to as outside the issues made by the pleadings, "the court may allow the pleadings to be amended and shall do so freely when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the objecting party fails to satisfy the court that the admission of such evidence would prejudice him in maintaining his action or defense upon the merits."

Note the direction of that burden — it sits on the objecting party, not the amending one. The court may also grant a continuance to let the objecting party meet the evidence.

Relation back

CR 15(c): where the claim or defense in the amended pleading arose out of the conduct, transaction or occurrence set forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading, the amendment relates back to the date of the original.

For an amendment changing the party against whom a claim is asserted, the rule adds the two familiar conditions — notice such that the new party will not be prejudiced in maintaining a defense on the merits, and knowledge that but for a mistake concerning identity the action would have been brought against them — both within the period provided by law for commencing the action against the original party.

That last phrase matters in Washington more than elsewhere, because CR 3(a) lets an action be commenced by service alone. The guide on responding to a Washington complaint covers how commencement works.

Supplemental pleadings

CR 15(d) permits the court, on motion, reasonable notice and just terms, to allow a supplemental pleading setting forth transactions, occurrences or events happening since the date of the pleading being supplemented. Permission may be granted "even though the original pleading is defective in its statement of a claim for relief or defense."

A supplemental pleading always needs a motion — the as-of-course right in CR 15(a) covers amendments only.

How Washington compares

	Washington	Oregon	California	Federal
Amendments as of right	one	one	one	one
First window closes on	service of a responsive pleading	service of a responsive pleading	the demurrer opposition deadline	21 days after service, or after a responsive pleading or Rule 12 motion
Second window	20 days — and not yet on the trial calendar	20 days	—	21 days
Proposed pleading attached to the motion	yes — marked "proposed," unsigned	no	not in the Code	no
Interlineation barred by rule	yes — CR 15(e)	no	no	no
Time to respond to an amendment	remaining time or 10 days, whichever is longer	the same — ORCP 15 C	30 days — CCP 471.5	14 days
Effect on a party in default	not addressed	expressly addressed — ORCP 23 A	not addressed	not addressed

A short checklist

Check whether a responsive pleading has been served. If not, amend as of course — no motion, no attachment requirement.
If the pleading takes no responsive pleading, check the trial calendar as well as the 20 days.
Attach the proposed pleading to any motion to amend, labeled "proposed," unsigned.
File and serve the real amended pleading after leave is granted. The motion attachment is not it.
Never write on the original. CR 15(e) makes interlineation an amendment requiring leave.
Calendar the response — remaining time or 10 days from service, whichever is longer.
If limitations are in play, work through CR 15(c), and remember Washington commencement can turn on service rather than filing.

Where these rules live

Superior court local rules add their own motion-practice requirements. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.

How this guide is sourced. Every procedural statement here is drawn from the text of the rules named above, each of which is reproduced verbatim on its own page on this site. Quoted rule language appears in quotation marks or block quotes; everything else is original writing. Last verified August 17, 2026.

This page explains what the rules say. It is legal information, not legal advice, and it cannot tell you how a rule applies to your situation. Deadlines are often short and some are not extendable — if the outcome matters, talk to a lawyer or your court’s self-help center.