Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You can file a motion to have the judgment amended to correct the clerical error. That type of motion is governed by Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (d), which does not contain a time limitation.

When the written order conflicts with the judge's oral pronouncements from the bench, then the oral pronouncements control. (The opposite is usually true in California criminal cases, since written orders in those cases are usually typed up by the clerk and not scrutinized or signed by the judge.)

But transcripts sometimes contain errors. It's possible that the judge really did say three years. Were you in court at the time to hear what she said? If the written order reflects what the judge actually said but the transcript does not, then the transcript won't trump the order.

My prior answer is not correct. When the written order conflicts with the judge's oral pronouncements from the bench, the written order controls. (The opposite is true in criminal cases, where the oral pronouncements control over a written order unless the order was signed by the judge.)

If the written order is ambiguous, then the transcript may help clarify what the judge intended. But if the order is clear, then it stands as written regardless of what the transcript says.

I'm sorry if my error caused any confusion.