Berkeley had 124,321 residents at the 2020 Census, and it packs a large public university, dense apartment blocks and steep hillside streets into a small city on the east shore of the bay. Valpro Attorney Services serves summonses, complaints, subpoenas, family law papers, probate notices and eviction papers on people and businesses across Berkeley.
We handle Berkeley requests from our Sacramento office, about 67.6 miles away, and we don't have a Berkeley location. Requests come in online, and every update comes by email.
What the Berkeley Courthouse does and doesn't take
Berkeley has a courthouse, but it's a specialist. The Alameda County court's page for 2120 Martin Luther King Jr. Way lists three kinds of cases: probate, conservatorships and guardianships, heard in Departments 201 and 202. The probate division page goes further. Probate documents may be filed only at the Berkeley Courthouse clerk's office, for every probate case in the county.
That flips the usual pattern. A Berkeley tenant dispute leaves town, while an estate case from Fremont or Livermore comes here.
| Berkeley matter | Where the papers go | Where it's heard |
|---|---|---|
| Probate, conservatorship, guardianship | Berkeley Courthouse clerk's office only | Depts. 201–202 in Berkeley; Dept. 103 sits at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse, 661 Washington St, Oakland |
| Civil lawsuit | René C. Davidson Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St, Oakland, or Hayward Hall of Justice | The assigned department |
| Unlawful detainer | Either civil counter, or e-file | Dept. 511, Hayward |
| Small claims | Oakland, Hayward or online | In person in Hayward |
| Family law | Hayward Hall of Justice; DVPA protective order papers may also go to Davidson | Hayward |
Source: alameda.courts.ca.gov locations and division pages, checked October 2026.
From central Berkeley, the Fallon Street courthouse is about 5 miles away in a straight line and Hayward about 18.
Filing probate papers in Berkeley
The probate clerk keeps a short in-person window: Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Friday until 2:00 p.m. The drop box picks up from there until 4:00 p.m. The court also lists a phone hour for probate examiners, 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. on weekdays, for questions about pending petitions.
Timing is the part that catches people. The probate page says every document has to be filed no later than two court days before the hearing date to be considered. A supplement that lands the day before won't count. When the calendar is tight, we can carry the papers to the Berkeley counter or the drop box and return a conformed copy to you.
Probate calendars and examiner notes are posted on the court's eCourt Public Portal, under the Berkeley Courthouse, or the René C. Davidson Courthouse for Department 1B. The court's page notes limited street parking, garages on Center and Kittredge Streets, and the Downtown Berkeley BART station about 0.3 miles away. For filings anywhere else in the county, see our Alameda County court filing page and the broader Court Filings page.
An estate case from elsewhere in the county
Because the Berkeley counter is the only probate filing point in Alameda County, a petition for an estate in Pleasanton, Hayward or Fremont is filed here too. An attorney in Sacramento or Los Angeles handling an Alameda County estate faces the same rule. Send the petition, the notice of hearing and any supplements with the Service Request, tell us the hearing date, and say whether the papers should be e-filed or taken to the counter. If any party needs papers handed to them in person, add that person's name and address to the same request.
Papers to serve in Berkeley?
Serving the University of California
UC Berkeley's campus is inside the city, and papers aimed at it follow rules UC publishes itself. A lawsuit against the university, a small claims case and a subpoena each go to a different place. Its guide, revised June 26, 2026, says:
- Name The Regents. Campuses and medical centers are not separate legal entities. The Regents of the University of California is the proper defendant.
- Serve the Office of the General Counsel. A summons and complaint can be handed to any OGC attorney at 1111 Franklin Street, 8th Floor, Oakland, during business hours. The guide lists 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except university holidays and a year-end closure.
- Don't serve the campus. Delivering the papers to a campus office or official is not proper service on The Regents.
- Small claims are different. The guide sends those to the campus risk services office. For Berkeley it lists 2199 Addison Street, Suite 615.
- Individuals are served directly. Apart from a short list of officers, such as chancellors, OGC does not accept service for UC employees sued personally.
Subpoenas follow their own rules. OGC accepts subpoenas addressed to The Regents or a campus unit, including records subpoenas. It does not accept a subpoena for an employee's personal appearance. That employee must be personally served unless other arrangements are made. For Berkeley campus records, the guide refers to the campus Legal Affairs office's list of custodians. Our post on serving a subpoena in California covers witness fees and deadlines.
Apartments, shared houses and the hills
Berkeley addresses fall into a few patterns, and each one changes what the Letter of Instruction should say.
- Houses split into flats. Units can have their own side or rear doors. Give the unit letter and which door it uses, and the name on the mailbox if it differs.
- Shared rentals near campus. Several adults may live at one address. A photo or a description of the person helps the server find the right housemate.
- The hills. Streets above the campus climb and switch back, and a house can sit below the road or up a flight of steps. A cross street, the color of the house or a photo saves time.
- West Berkeley. Commercial and light industrial buildings near the shoreline can have a front office and a separate loading door. Say which one the person uses.
Berkeley ZIP Code areas that cross a line
The Census matches 9 ZIP Code areas to Berkeley. Several of them reach into other cities, and two touch another county:
- 94705 has more of its land in Oakland than in Berkeley, about two-thirds to one-third.
- 94720, the university's ZIP Code area, is mostly in Berkeley, with about a tenth of its land inside Oakland city limits.
- 94707 and 94708 also cover parts of Kensington, an unincorporated community in Contra Costa County. 94707 overlaps Albany as well.
- 94710, along the shoreline, includes a small part of Albany.
These figures come from the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file. ZIP Code areas are Census approximations of postal ZIP Codes. A Kensington address may read like a Berkeley one, but a case belonging there would go to Contra Costa County Superior Court. See our Contra Costa County page for that court.
Serving a Berkeley business or landlord
For a corporation or LLC, find the agent for service of process on the California Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us that name and address. A storefront clerk on a commercial strip usually isn't authorized to accept. Many companies name a commercial registered agent outside Berkeley, and we can serve that office instead. Our guide to serving corporations covers each route.
For a property dispute, the right party can be an individual owner, a trust or a management company. Check the lease, the notice and the bizfile record, and list every name you find.
Berkeley requests, step by step
- Upload up to 5 PDFs to a Service Request: summons and complaint, probate citation, subpoena, or whatever the case needs.
- Name the person or entity exactly as the papers do, and add every Berkeley address you have.
- Describe access: unit, gate, door, stairs, a photo.
- Pick Rush or Standard. A court filing can ride on the same request.
You can also reach us at 855-582-5776 or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. Starting January 1, 2027, AB 747 adds steps to substituted service and to proofs. Our AB 747 guide explains them. We make no guarantees for service.
If the person has moved out of Berkeley, ask about skip tracing. For copies from an existing file, use document retrieval.
Cities around Berkeley
Straight-line distances from central Berkeley:
- Emeryville (1.9 miles) and Albany (2.0)
- Piedmont (4.8) and Oakland, the county seat
- El Cerrito (3.7) and Richmond (6.9), across the line in Contra Costa County
Every city we serve in Alameda County is listed on the county page.