San Mateo County Superior Court — Department 13 (Judge Lisa A.… — CA · BenchPath

San Mateo County Superior Court — Department 13 (Judge Lisa A. Novak) Probate Department Rules (as of January 1, 2026)

High confidence· verified October 8, 2026Judge PreferencesDepartment 13 (Judge Lisa A. Novak) Probate Department Rules (as of January 1, 2026), Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo; posted on the court's Department Info of Judge Lisa A. Novak page (https://sanmateo.courts.ca.gov/divisions/probate/department-info-judge-lisa-novak) at https://sanmateo.courts.ca.gov/system/files/probate/probation-department-rules-dept-13.pdf, fetched 2026-10-08.

Summary

Department 13's rules for the Probate Department (Judge Lisa A. Novak presiding as of January 1, 2026): the motion/petition calendar Monday-Friday at 9:00 a.m. (tentative rulings posted by 3 p.m. the day before; remote appearance allowed except on petitions for guardianship with a petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Findings; sanctions for a late status brief); the online submission of orders and requests (orders after hearing in person or e-filed; ex parte requests that require notice filed in person, never both; ex parte hours daily from 10:00 a.m-11:00 a.m.); and the pretrial deadlines - serve (but not file) proposed motions in limine, witness lists, deposition designations and exhibit lists at least 35 days before the Trial; meet and confer at least 25 days before; file and serve motions in limine and oppositions at least 15 days before; the joint Trial Brief with the witness and exhibit lists and binders at least 10 days before; trial exhibits in binders at least 7 days before the Trial Date - with motions in limine heard on the first day of Trial, witness lists, trial exhibits and the meet and confer.

Applies to

California > First Appellate District > San Mateo County > Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo > Department 13

Source of truth

Welcome to Department 13, the Probate Department for San Mateo County as of January 1, 2026. Judge Lisa A. Novak will preside over the Probate assignment until further order of the Presiding Judge. Judge Novak looks forward to creating an atmosphere wherein collaboration, when possible, is achieved, and where respect is given to, and expected from, all litigants, interested parties and attorneys,

Official source: Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo — court website
Source health: Healthy · checked September 28, 2026
Effective date: January 1, 2026
Last verified: October 8, 2026benchpath-ca-t4-san-mateo-2026-10-08

Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-08 (California T4 San Mateo build 2026-10-08) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-san-mateo/docs/probate/probation-department-rules-dept-13.pdf (199297 bytes, sha256 04013fe396cc556c64457c4990f95779448d58c78eb5eb1f2e98a27186d331e1; 7 pages) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): page marks and running headers or footers removed as chrome; lines reflowed into the document's paragraphs; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. Documented settings (whitespace-only or same-character changes; the proofs hold): the deadline table, a ruled table, set cell by cell (tables=True), its numbered requirements each on its own line (8 whitespace fixes). Attached to Judge Lisa A. Novak: the card is Department 13's, where the court's Directory of Judges (effective August 3, 2026) seats Judge Lisa A. Novak. Review note: The summary table of deadlines sets the meet and confer at least 25 days and motions in limine and oppositions at least 15 days before the Trial; paragraphs 10 and 11 set the meet and confer no later than 20 days and motions in limine and oppositions no later than 14 days before the Trial - which governs is a review task.