The California military affidavit

How California handles it

California does not publish a standalone military affidavit for a civil case. The statement is item 8 of the default request itself, captioned "Declaration of nonmilitary status (required for a judgment)," on page 3 of CIV-100. CIV-100 is a form adopted for mandatory use under Code of Civil Procedure sections 585 to 587 and 1169, and the copy on the Judicial Council server is the January 1, 2023 revision.

Item 8 begins with the assertion that no defendant named at item 1c "is in the military service of the United States as defined by either the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (see 50 U.S.C. § 3911(2)) or California Military and Veterans Code sections 400 and 402(f)." It then asks you to check every reason you know that, from six printed options: the search results you received from https://scra.dmdc.osd.mil/ say so; you are in regular communication with the person; you recently contacted them and they told you; you know they were discharged on a stated date; they cannot serve because they are incarcerated or are a business entity; or "other (specify)" with a free-text block. A boxed note on the same page repeats the DMDC address and sends you to selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/military-defaults.

Sign three times. Page 2 of CIV-100 carries one perjury declaration covering items 4, 5 and 6 (legal document assistant disclosure, the section 585.5 questions about Unruh Act and Rees-Levering contracts, and the mailing declaration under Code of Civil Procedure section 587). Item 7, the memorandum of costs, has its own perjury signature and is required whenever you ask for a money judgment. Item 8 has a third. They are separate blocks with separate date lines.

If you bought the debt you are suing on, CIV-100 is the wrong form. Its own header says it is "Not for use in actions under the Fair Debt Buying Practices Act (Civ. Code, § 1788.50 et seq.); (see form CIV-105)." CIV-105 carries the identical nonmilitary declaration with the identical six checkboxes, numbered item 9 rather than item 8, and adds a documentation checklist at its item 5.

California adds two things beyond section 3931. Military and Veterans Code section 402(f), read at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov in August 2026, deems a defendant "in the military service" if they are serving now or served within the preceding 120 days, so a recent separation still counts. Section 402(b) makes a knowingly false declaration a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year, a fine up to $1,000, or both, and makes the signer liable for the defendant's actual damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs.

What trips filers up here

• The Judicial Council self-help page on military status and default judgments states that when you cannot determine status, "the judge may require you to post a bond before a judgment is entered." That is the section 3931(b)(3) bond, and California courts use it.
• Appointed counsel is not standardized. The same self-help page says each court has its own rules for how a lawyer gets appointed for the servicemember "and who has to pay for the lawyer," and suggests asking the court. Settle that with the clerk before you file, not after the judge reads item 8.
• In a family case the servicemember can waive the appointment in writing. Form FL-130(A), Declaration and Conditional Waiver of Rights Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, attaches to form FL-130 and waives only the right to set aside a default judgment that incorporates the parties' written agreement without any change. If the court changes the agreement, paragraph 2(c) restores every right. The form also tells the clerk that a servicemember must not be charged a fee to file FL-130. Note the label mismatch: the self-help page calls it "form FL-1301(A)" while the form itself is FL-130(A), both read on August 15, 2026.
• Item 8 speaks only to the defendants named at item 1c. If the names you listed for a clerk's judgment at item 1e or a court judgment at item 1d are not the same list, the declaration does not stretch to cover them.

Signing it: declaration, no notary

CIV-100 carries three separate perjury blocks and no notary line anywhere. The military statement has its own: "I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing item 8 is true and correct," with its own date and signature.

No notary is needed. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is what 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) expressly allows. Signing it knowing the military statement is false is still a federal crime, and a state perjury exposure on top.

California law on top of the federal rule

Cal. Mil. & Vet. Code § 402: California's own default-judgment statute. Subsection (a) requires a declaration under penalty of perjury of facts showing the defendant is not in military service, or a declaration that the defendant is serving or that the plaintiff cannot tell. Subsection (f) counts anyone who served within the preceding 120 days as "in the military service." Subsection (b) makes a knowingly false declaration a misdemeanor and creates civil liability for actual damages, attorney fees and costs. Read at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov on August 15, 2026.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in California and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: California SCRA benefits.