Pleadings and parties·fatal if missed
Serving a California business entity: who you actually hand it to
Service on an entity is delivery to a natural person the Code names, and the list is closed. CCP 416.10(b). The part nobody reads is that substituted service on that person under CCP 415.20(a) carries no diligence requirement at all, while the identical act against a human defendant under subdivision (b) does.
- Corporation
- The designated agent, or an officer on the statutory list, or a general manager CCP 416.10(a), CCP 416.10(b). A bank adds a cashier or assistant cashier, CCP 416.10(c)
- LLC
- Chapter 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, plus a route of its own in the Corporations Code Corp. Code 17701.16(a), Corp. Code 17701.16(b)
- Partnership
- The designated agent, a general partner, or the general manager of the partnership CCP 416.40(a). Other unincorporated associations follow CCP 416.40(b)
- Public entity
- The clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer, or other head of its governing body CCP 416.50(a). A claim under the Government Claims Act is a separate condition precedent and this is not it
- Forfeited or dissolved corporation
- A person who is a trustee of the corporation and of its stockholders or members CCP 416.20(a)
- Substituted service
- Leave it during usual office hours with the person apparently in charge, then mail a copy, and service is complete on the 10th day after mailing CCP 415.20(a). Subdivision (a) has no reasonable diligence prerequisite. Subdivision (b), which covers human defendants, does
- Agent unreachable
- A court order, then hand delivery to the Secretary of State, complete on the 10th day Corp. Code 1702(a) for a domestic corporation, Corp. Code 17701.16(c) for an LLC, Corp. Code 2111(a) for a registered foreign corporation
- Proof
- The affidavit must name the person served and, if appropriate, the title or capacity in which they were served CCP 417.10(a)
On this page
An entity is served by handing papers to a person, and the list is closed
There is no such thing as serving a corporation. There is only delivering to one of the people the statute names.
"A summons may be served on a corporation by delivering a copy of the summons and the complaint by any of the following methods: ... (b) To the president, chief executive officer, or other head of the corporation, a vice president, a secretary or assistant secretary, a treasurer or assistant treasurer, a controller or chief financial officer, a general manager, or a person authorized by the corporation to receive service of process."
CCP 416.10(b). The list is titles, not functions, with two openings at the end: "a general manager" and "a person authorized by the corporation to receive service of process." Those two phrases do the work in every contested service motion, and they are the two this page does not gloss, because the meaning courts have given them is case law and this page is built on the statutes.
CCP 416.10(a) points at the designated agent under Corporations Code sections 202, 1502, 2105 or 2107. CCP 416.10(c) adds a cashier or assistant cashier for banks. CCP 416.10(d) incorporates the Corporations Code routes at sections 1701, 1702, 2110 and 2111, which is how the Secretary of State gets into this at all.
The residual provision is CCP 416.90: "A summons may be served on a person not otherwise specified in this article by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to such person or to a person authorized by him to receive service of process." That is the section a human defendant is served under, and it matters below, because it determines which half of CCP 415.20 applies.
Which subdivision, by entity type
Get the entity form right before you get the person right. A registered agent listed for an LLC is not served under the corporation section.
| Entity | Deliver to | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation, domestic or foreign | Designated agent; or president, CEO or other head, a vice president, secretary or assistant secretary, treasurer or assistant treasurer, controller or CFO, a general manager, or a person authorized to receive service | CCP 416.10(a), (b) |
| Bank | Everyone above, plus a cashier or assistant cashier | CCP 416.10(c) |
| Corporation that has forfeited its charter or right to do business, or dissolved | A person who is a trustee of the corporation and of its stockholders or members | CCP 416.20(a) |
| Limited liability company | Chapter 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure applies, and in addition personal delivery to any individual designated as agent, or to a person named in the corporate agent's latest section 1505 certificate | Corp. Code 17701.16(a), (b) |
| General or limited partnership | Agent designated in a statement filed with the Secretary of State, a general partner, or the general manager of the partnership | CCP 416.40(a) |
| Other unincorporated association | Designated agent, or president or other head, a vice president, secretary or assistant secretary, treasurer or assistant treasurer, a general manager, or a person authorized to receive service | CCP 416.40(b) |
| Public entity | The clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer, or other head of its governing body | CCP 416.50(a) |
CCP 416.50(b) defines "public entity" broadly: the state and any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission or agency of the state, the Regents, a county, city, district, public authority, public agency, "and any other political subdivision or public corporation in this state."
Why the LLC section exists at all
Corp. Code 17701.16(a) opens: "In addition to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, process may be served upon limited liability companies and foreign limited liability companies as provided in this section." So the Corporations Code route is cumulative, not exclusive.
Subdivision (b) also carries a trap for the served side rather than the serving side: "No change in the address of the agent for service of process or appointment of a new agent for service of process shall be effective until an amendment to the statement described in Section 17701.14 is filed."
Substituted service on an entity, and the diligence that is not required
Read the first words of each subdivision of CCP 415.20. They are not the same, and the difference is the whole section.
"(a) In lieu of personal delivery of a copy of the summons and complaint to the person to be served as specified in Section 416.10, 416.20, 416.30, 416.40, or 416.50, a summons may be served by leaving a copy of the summons and complaint during usual office hours in the person's office or, if no physical address is known, at the person's usual mailing address, other than a United States Postal Service post office box, with the person who is apparently in charge thereof, and by thereafter mailing a copy of the summons and complaint by first-class mail, postage prepaid to the person to be served at the place where a copy of the summons and complaint were left. ... Service of a summons in this manner is deemed complete on the 10th day after the mailing."
Subdivision (b) begins differently: "If a copy of the summons and complaint cannot with reasonable diligence be personally delivered to the person to be served, as specified in Section 416.60, 416.70, 416.80, or 416.90 ... ." Those four sections are minors, wards and conservatees, and the residual "person" section. In other words, the diligence condition attaches to serving human beings, and not to serving the people who stand in for entities.
What subdivision (a) does require is exact and is where drop-and-go service fails: the papers go to the office of the person to be served, during usual office hours, to whoever is apparently in charge there, and then a copy is mailed to that same place. No mailing, no service. And nothing is complete until the 10th day after the mailing, which is the date the responsive pleading period runs from.
Where the defendant is an entity you cannot locate at all, the analysis moves to diligence, publication and the three year service deadline, and that is a different page: serving a California defendant you cannot find.
When the agent cannot be found, the Secretary of State route is an order
It is a noticed application to a judge with an affidavit, not a form you file with the Secretary of State.
Corp. Code 1702(a) applies where the agent has resigned and not been replaced, where the designated agent "cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated for personally delivering the process," or where no agent has been designated. The affidavit has to satisfy the court that process "cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent by hand in the manner provided in Section 415.10, subdivision (a) of Section 415.20 or subdivision (a) of Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure or upon the corporation in the manner provided in subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 416.10 or subdivision (a) of Section 416.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure."
That second half is the part that gets applications denied. It is not enough to show the registered agent was unreachable. The affidavit has to address the officers too, because CCP 416.10(b) is an independent route and the statute says so in terms.
On the order, one copy of the process per defendant plus a copy of the order is delivered by hand to the Secretary of State or an assistant or deputy. "Service in this manner is deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery of the process to the Secretary of State."
The same machinery for LLCs and for registered foreign corporations
Corp. Code 17701.16(c) mirrors section 1702 for a domestic or registered foreign LLC, on the same affidavit showing, with the same hand delivery and the same 10th day completion rule.
Corp. Code 2111(a) covers a foreign corporation that has qualified. It reaches the case where the natural person agent "cannot be found with due diligence at the address stated in the designation," where a corporate agent has no findable person, where the agent is no longer authorized, or where no agent was designated and no officer under section 2110 can be found after diligent search. Two copies of the process and two copies of the order go to the Secretary of State, except that if the corporation never filed the section 2105 statement, one copy suffices and the order itself must set forth the address to which the Secretary of State sends the process.
In every version the Secretary of State forwards by registered or certified mail with return receipt, and the Secretary's certificate is prima facie evidence of service. Corp. Code 1702(b), 1702(c); Corp. Code 17701.16(d), (e); Corp. Code 2111(b), (c).
Notice and acknowledgment, and what completion means
Mailing is the cheapest route and the only one where the defendant decides whether it worked.
CCP 415.30(a) allows service by first-class mail or airmail with two copies of the statutory notice and acknowledgment and a postage prepaid return envelope. CCP 415.30(c) is the sentence that matters: service "is deemed complete on the date a written acknowledgment of receipt of summons is executed, if such acknowledgment thereafter is returned to the sender."
Nothing comes back, nothing happened. What you get instead is CCP 415.30(d): a defendant who fails to return the form within 20 days of mailing "shall be liable for reasonable expenses thereafter incurred in serving or attempting to serve the party by another method," and the court "shall award" them absent good cause, whether or not the party is otherwise entitled to costs. It is a cost shifting provision, not a service provision. The clock under CCP 583.210 keeps running the entire time.
The proof of service, and the line people leave blank
The proof is where entity service is won or lost later, because it is the only record of which route was used.
CCP 417.10(a) requires an affidavit "showing the time, place, and manner of service and facts showing that the service was made in accordance with this chapter," and then the specific requirement: the affidavit "shall recite or in other manner show the name of the person to whom a copy of the summons and of the complaint were delivered, and, if appropriate, the person's title or the capacity in which the person is served, and that the notice required by Section 412.30 appeared on the copy of the summons served, if in fact it did appear."
Two things follow. First, the section 412.30 notice, the line on the summons stating the capacity in which the entity is served, has to be on the served copy and the proof has to say it was. Second, a proof that names a person with no title records an act that could be personal service on an authorized person, substituted service, or nothing. On a motion to quash or a motion to set aside a default, that blank is the whole argument.
Where service was by mail under section 415.30, the proof "shall include the acknowledgment of receipt of summons in the form provided by that section or other written acknowledgment of receipt of summons satisfactory to the court," CCP 417.10(a). All proof of personal service goes on a Judicial Council form, CCP 417.10(f).
What changes on January 1, 2027
Two 2025 statutes rewrite the service chapter. One tightens the proof, the other opens a new route.
CCP 415.20(d) and CCP 417.10(g) each read: "This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed." Assembly Bill 747 (Stats. 2025, ch. 563) carries the replacement text for both, along with amendments to CCP 415.45 and CCP 585. Senate Bill 85 (Stats. 2025, ch. 403) separately allows a court to authorize service by alternative means, including electronic means, where a plaintiff cannot effect service despite reasonable diligence.
The reported shape of AB 747 is a defined diligence standard, at least three good faith attempts at personal delivery on three different days at three different times, a proof of service carrying at least one photograph with date, time and GPS coordinates, and specified mailing methods. It also addresses when a clerk may enter default without proof of service.
What breaks if you get this wrong
Four ways a served entity is not a served entity.
Leaving the papers with the person in charge and never mailing the copy
CCP 415.20(a) requires leaving the papers "and by thereafter mailing a copy of the summons and complaint by first-class mail, postage prepaid to the person to be served at the place where a copy of the summons and complaint were left." Without the mailing there is no substituted service and nothing is ever complete, because completion is measured from the mailing. The three year deadline in CCP 583.210 does not care.
Delivering to the Secretary of State without a court order
Corp. Code 1702(a), Corp. Code 17701.16(c) and Corp. Code 2111(a) all condition that route on "an order that the service be made," supported by an affidavit. The statutes describe delivery of "one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the order authorizing such service." No order, no service to be completed on the 10th day or any other day.
Treating a returned-nothing section 415.30 mailing as service
CCP 415.30(c): complete "on the date a written acknowledgment of receipt of summons is executed, if such acknowledgment thereafter is returned to the sender." The remedy for silence is expenses under CCP 415.30(d), not service.
A proof of service that names the recipient and no capacity
CCP 417.10(a) wants the name and, if appropriate, "the person's title or the capacity in which the person is served," plus confirmation that the section 412.30 notice appeared on the served copy. The defect is in the record rather than in the act, so it is usually fixable, and it is usually only discovered when a default is attacked.
Before the process server goes out
- Confirm the entity form from the Secretary of State record, not from the name on the contract. Inc, LLC, LP and DBA take different subdivisions.
- Confirm the agent is current. For an LLC, a change is not effective until the section 17701.14 statement is amended, Corp. Code 17701.16(b).
- Pick the subdivision before the visit and write it on the instructions, because the proof has to recite the capacity.
- If it will be substituted service, instruct the mailing to the same address where the papers were left, and calendar completion for the 10th day after.
- Check the summons carries the section 412.30 notice naming the capacity in which the entity is served.
- If the agent is unreachable, build the affidavit for the officers too, not just the agent, because Corp. Code 1702(a) asks about both.
- Diary the three year service deadline the day you file, and treat every cheap route as running inside it.
The local layer
Everything above is statewide and there is almost nothing local in it. What is local is what a clerk will accept at the default stage, which is where a service defect usually surfaces.
Write the proof so it survives that stage rather than so it gets accepted. A proof that names the recipient, the capacity, and the mailing answers the questions a clerk or a judge will ask later, whichever of them asks first.
For San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino, and for every other county, the rule is the statewide one on this page. This site does not guess at how a department runs.