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Complaint for Declaratory Relief

November 17, 2010

By Barbara Haubrich-Hass, ACP/CAS

In a very simplistic explanation, a Declaratory Judgment, also referred to as Declaratory Relief, is an action where the parties seek the court’s clarification of a disputed legal issue. The plaintiff is not suing the defendant to recover a monetary award, but rather is requesting the court’s opinion on a legal issue. In this type of action, the judge, after careful consideration of the legal issues involved, renders an opinion declaring the rights of each of the parties involved. A declaratory judgment may only be granted in actual controversies that fall within the court’s jurisdiction. A declaratory judgment is conclusive and legally binding as to the rights of the parties involved. A Declaratory Relief action is considered a type of preventive justice. It is believed that with the court’s decision, it will avoid the parties’ violation of the terms of the contract, and therefore, prevent litigation for breach of contract.

How I have experienced a Declaratory Relief Action in a personal injury lawsuit is when there is a dispute as to whether an insurance policy provides coverage to a certain person or occurrence. When this has occurred in those instances, the court issued a Stay on the personal injury lawsuit until the Declaratory Relief action was resolved. By doing this, the personal injury lawsuit was held at bay and did not waste the court’s time and litigation costs while the rights of the parties regarding the insurance coverage dispute were resolved.

The supporting authority for this article is found in California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1060 through 1062.5; 426.60.

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