When will a superior court refuse to grant declaratory relief to a plaintiff?

Although the superior court may deny declaratory relief, it may not transfer an action stating a sufficient claim for declaratory relief to the municipal court. (Cook v. Winklepleck (1936) 16 Cal.App.2d Supp. 759, 764, 59 P.2d 463.) If, however, a complaint seeking declaratory and incidental monetary relief shows that declaratory relief is "not necessary or proper at the time under all the circumstances," the complaint is "in truth [ ] merely one for the consequential relief of damages" (id.) and, if the damages sought are within the municipal court's jurisdictional amount, ³ the case belongs in municipal and not superior court. (Id.)

As a general rule, the superior court has no jurisdiction over an action in which "1. there is a fully matured cause of action for money; 2. the demand is within the jurisdiction of an inferior court; 3. a money judgment for plaintiff or a judgment in defendant's favor will fully and finally resolve the dispute between the parties; and 4. there is no occasion for any declaration concerning their future conduct." (Bachis v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co. (1968) 265 Cal.App.2d 722, 727, 71 Cal.Rptr. 486.) An exception to this rule exists where a suit for damages would not be as " 'speedy and adequate or as well suited to the plaintiff's needs as declaratory relief.' " (Warren v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (1975) 47 Cal.App.3d 678, 683, 121 Cal.Rptr. 19.) Thus, when the parties maintain a contractual relationship which will continue after resolution of the immediate dispute, and may give rise to additional claims, declaratory

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