California · statute · Cal. Civil Code · 4,077 active provisions
This Act shall be known as The Civil Code of the State of California, and is in Four Divisions, as follows: I.—THE FIRST RELATING TO PERSONS. II.—THE SECOND TO PROPERTY. III.—THE THIRD TO OBLIGATIONS. IV.—THE FOURTH CONTAINS GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE THREE PRECEDING DIVISIONS.
This Code takes effect at twelve o'clock noon, on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-three.
No part of it is retroactive, unless expressly so declared.
The rule of the common law, that statutes in derogation thereof are to be strictly construed, has no application to this Code. The Code establishes the law of this State respecting the subjects to which it relates, and its provisions are to be liberally construed with a view to effect its objects and to promote justice…
The provisions of this Code, so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutes or the common law, must be construed as continuations thereof, and not as new enactments.
No action or proceeding commenced before this Code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by its provisions.
Holidays within the meaning of this code are every Sunday and such other days as are specified or provided for as holidays in the Government Code of the State of California.
Optional bank holidays within the meaning of Section 9 are: (a) Any closing of a bank because of an extraordinary situation, as that term is defined in the Bank Extraordinary Situation Closing Act (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 3600) of Division 1 of the Financial Code). (b) Every Saturday. (c) Every Sunday. (d)…
All other days than those mentioned in Section 7 are business days for all purposes; provided, that as to any act appointed by law or contract, or in any other way, to be performed by, at, or through any bank organized under the laws of or doing business in this state, any optional bank holiday as defined in Section 7.…
The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded.
Whenever any act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, is appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, it may be performed upon the next business day, with the same effect as if it had been performed upon the day appointed.
Words giving a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons are construed as giving such authority to a majority of them, unless it is otherwise expressed in the Act giving the authority.
Words and phrases are construed according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined in the succeeding section, are to be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meani…
(a) Words used in this code in the present tense include the future as well as the present; words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular; the word person includes a corporation as well as a natural person; county includes city a…
Wherever any notice or other communication is required by this code to be mailed by registered mail, the mailing of such notice or other communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of law.
Notice is: 1. Actual—which consists in express information of a fact; or, 2. Constructive—which is imputed by law.
Every person who has actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a prudent person upon inquiry as to a particular fact has constructive notice of the fact itself in all cases in which, by prosecuting such inquiry, he or she might have learned that fact.
No statute, law, or rule is continued in force because it is consistent with the provisions of this Code on the same subject; but in all cases provided for by this Code, all statutes, laws, and rules heretofore in force in this State, whether consistent or not with the provisions of this Code, unless expressly continue…
This Act, whenever cited, enumerated, referred to, or amended, may be designated simply as “The Civil Code,” adding, when necessary, the number of the section.
Law is a solemn expression of the will of the supreme power of the State.
The will of the supreme power is expressed: (a) By the Constitution. (b) By statutes.
The common law of England, so far as it is not repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, or the Constitution or laws of this State, is the rule of decision in all the courts of this State.
With relation to the laws passed at the 1872 Session of the Legislature, the Political Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, and Penal Code, shall be construed as though each had been passed on the first day of the session.
The provisions of any law passed at the 1872 Session of the Legislature which contravene or are inconsistent with the provisions of any of the four codes passed at the 1872 Session prevail.
With relation to each other, the provisions of the four codes shall be construed as though all such codes had been passed at the same moment of time and were parts of the same statute.