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FL-980Optional

Application for Order for Publication or Posting

California · Judicial Council of California · Effective January 1, 2013

This form is used to ask the court for permission to serve legal papers by publishing a notice in a newspaper or by posting it in a public place. It requires the person filing to explain why they could not serve the papers in other ways.

The court describes it as: Ask the court for an order to let you serve the summons in your case by publishing it a newspaper or posting it in a location where the other party will likely see it.

Open the official PDFfrom Judicial Council of California

Where this fits in a case

Start a case

Stage: Start a case

This form is used when a person needs to serve legal papers but cannot find the other party through normal service methods.

Usually filed by the person starting the case.

Common questions

What is this form for?
This form is an application to ask the court for an order to serve legal papers by publishing them in a newspaper or by posting them somewhere visible.
Who fills out this form?
The petitioner, which is the person starting the request, fills out this form.
Does this form require a fee?
The form mentions that the petitioner may have submitted a Request to Waive Court Fees (form FW-001) for this request.

Revision history

No changes recorded since we started tracking this form on October 9, 2026. The current version took effect January 1, 2013.

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