Family law discovery is not limited to asking for documents or requiring someone to answer broad questions. Sometimes the most useful information is determining exactly what the other party does and does not dispute.

Requests for Admission are a formal California discovery method designed for that purpose. They ask the other party to admit the truth of specified matters or acknowledge that particular documents are genuine. When used effectively, they can narrow the factual disputes that remain for settlement or trial.

Requests for Admission Focus on Specific Issues

A Request for Admission generally asks the responding party to admit a particular statement or the genuineness of a particular document.

This makes the discovery method different from interrogatories, which generally seek written information, and requests for production, which seek documents or other materials.

For example, rather than asking someone to provide information about a disputed financial event, a Request for Admission can ask the person to admit a specifically stated matter relevant to the case.

Requests can also address documents. If the authenticity of a document could otherwise become an issue, a party can request an admission that the document is genuine.

California limits Requests for Admission to parties in the case.

An Admission Can Have Significant Consequences

A Request for Admission should not be treated as routine paperwork.

When a party admits a matter in response, that matter is conclusively established against that party for purposes of the pending case unless the court later permits the admission to be withdrawn or amended.

That consequence explains why Requests for Admission can be useful before trial.

If the parties can establish that certain facts or documents are not actually disputed, they can focus their evidence and arguments on the issues that genuinely require a decision.

The discovery process can therefore do more than uncover new information. It can define the boundaries of the dispute itself.

California Places Limits on the Number of Certain Requests

Without court permission, a party may generally request admission of up to 35 matters that do not concern the genuineness of documents.

Requests involving document genuineness are treated differently for purposes of that numerical limitation.

This makes careful drafting important. Requests should be targeted toward matters that could meaningfully simplify the case rather than using the process for questions that do little to clarify the disputed issues.

A party receiving inappropriate or burdensome requests may also have procedures available for seeking a protective order. The applicable requirements include making a reasonable and good-faith attempt to resolve the discovery dispute informally before requesting court intervention.

Requests for Admission Can Make Settlement and Trial More Focused

California family law cases can involve dozens of factual disagreements involving property, income, support, or other contested matters.

Not every issue needs to remain disputed until trial.

Requests for Admission provide a formal way to determine whether the opposing party will acknowledge particular facts or documents. Once a matter is properly admitted, the parties can generally proceed without devoting additional trial time to proving it.

Used strategically, this discovery method can help transform a broad disagreement into a more focused California family law case where everyone understands which issues actually remain for the court to decide.