To change a court date, you file a written request called a motion for a continuance, and a judge decides whether to grant it. Nothing about the change is automatic. Knowing how to change a court date comes down to three things: having a reason the judge will accept, filing the request early enough, and getting a signed order before you treat the old date as gone.
Reasons a Judge Will Accept
Judges evaluate continuance requests under a “good cause” standard. That means a reason beyond personal inconvenience — something the court views as genuinely unavoidable. Courts disfavor continuances because they slow cases down, and the closer you are to the hearing, the stronger your reason has to be.
Reasons that typically qualify:
- A medical emergency affecting you, a key witness, or an immediate family member.
- An essential witness who cannot attend despite reasonable efforts to secure their presence.
- Documents or other evidence you’ve been actively trying to obtain and haven’t received through no fault of your own.
- Your attorney has a conflicting trial in another court, or has become unavailable due to illness or similar circumstances.
- You recently hired or changed lawyers and the new attorney needs reasonable time to prepare. Judges expect the change to be prompt; waiting until the last minute weakens the argument.
Reasons that almost never work: vacation plans, ordinary work conflicts, feeling unprepared because you waited too long, or simply wanting more time. Judges see these constantly. The core question the judge is asking is whether you acted diligently and whether something outside your control created the need for a delay.
Two Ways to Ask for a New Date
Stipulation When the Other Side Agrees
The easiest path is getting the opposing party to agree. That agreement is called a stipulation. You and the other party (or your attorneys) sign a written agreement consenting to the reschedule, then submit it to the court. A judge still has to approve it, but judges are far more willing to grant a continuance when nobody objects.
Even with agreement, you generally need to submit the stipulation in writing along with a proposed order for the judge to sign. A verbal understanding between the parties is not enough. Get it on paper and filed.
Motion for a Continuance When They Don’t
When the other side won’t agree, you file a motion for a continuance. This is a written request formally asking the judge to postpone the date. The judge reviews your stated reasons, considers any opposition, and issues a ruling. It’s more work than a stipulation and less certain, but it’s your only option when the other party objects.
What to Put in the Motion
A well-prepared motion significantly improves your chances. At minimum, include:
- The full case name, case number, and names of all parties.
- The current hearing or trial date you want to change.
- A specific proposed new date, if you can suggest one. It shows the judge you’re not trying to delay indefinitely.
- A detailed explanation of why you need the continuance. Be specific. “Medical emergency” is vague; “I was hospitalized for emergency surgery on [date] and my doctor states I cannot attend court until [date]” gives the judge something concrete to evaluate.
- Supporting documents: a doctor’s note, a letter from an employer, a written statement from an unavailable witness, or proof you’ve been trying to obtain evidence. The more documentation you attach, the more credible the request looks.
Many courts provide blank motion forms through the clerk’s office or on their website. Using the court’s own form, where one exists, keeps you from missing required information. If no form is offered, format your motion as a standard legal filing with a caption matching your case.
Filing, Serving, and Waiting for the Order
Getting your motion in front of the court is two separate steps, and you have to do both.
Filing means officially submitting the motion to the court clerk. You can typically do this in person, by mail, or through electronic filing if the court offers it. Some courts charge a small filing fee, often somewhere in the range of roughly $20 to $80 depending on the jurisdiction. If you can’t afford it, ask the clerk about a fee waiver application.
Serving means delivering a copy to the opposing party or their attorney. In federal court, acceptable methods of service include hand delivery, mail to the person’s last known address, or electronic delivery if the other party has agreed to it.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers State courts follow similar rules with their own variations. After you serve the motion, you’ll usually file a proof of service confirming the delivery.
Then wait for the judge’s written order. Do not assume the date has changed until you have a signed order confirming the new date. If you skip the original date based on an assumption, you face the same consequences as someone who simply didn’t show up.
How Early to File
File as soon as you know you need a new date. Waiting until the last minute signals to the judge that the problem isn’t serious or that you weren’t diligent, and both hurt your chances.
In federal court, written motions generally must be served on the opposing party at least 14 days before the scheduled hearing, with exceptions for emergencies and situations where the court has set a different deadline.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time; Time for Motion Papers State and local courts set their own deadlines, which may be shorter or longer. Check the local rules or call the clerk to confirm the deadline that applies to your case.
If an emergency comes up too close to the hearing for a standard motion, most courts allow an ex parte application, which is an emergency request made without the usual advance notice to the other side. You still have to explain why you couldn’t file earlier and why the situation is urgent. Some courts will also let you appear on the hearing date and ask the judge verbally for a continuance, but that’s a last resort and far less likely to succeed than a written motion filed well in advance.
Other Deadlines Don’t Move Automatically
This is where people get tripped up. Moving your trial date does not push back the other deadlines in your case, like the cutoff for completing discovery, filing pretrial motions, or exchanging witness lists. In federal court, those dates are typically set in a scheduling order, and modifying that order requires its own showing of good cause and the judge’s consent.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 16 – Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management
If you need more time for discovery or other pretrial work in addition to the new trial date, ask for it explicitly in your continuance motion. Spell out which deadlines you want extended and why. If the order granting the continuance is silent about other deadlines, they almost certainly remain on the original schedule. Missing a discovery deadline because you assumed it moved is a painful and avoidable mistake.
What Happens If You Don’t Show Up
If you don’t appear and don’t have an approved continuance, the consequences depend on whether your case is civil or criminal. Neither outcome is good.
Civil Cases
In a civil case, the other side can ask the court to enter a default against you and then seek a default judgment. A default judgment means you lose without anyone hearing your side. The court can award damages, order wage garnishments, or place liens on your property.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment
You can file a motion asking the court to set a default judgment aside, but it’s an uphill fight. You’ll generally need to show your failure to appear resulted from mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, not just forgetfulness.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order Act quickly. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to convince a judge to reopen the case.
Criminal Cases
Criminal cases carry much steeper consequences. A judge will almost certainly issue a bench warrant for your arrest, meaning law enforcement can take you into custody wherever they find you. Failing to appear is also a separate criminal offense with its own penalties on top of whatever you were originally charged with.
Under federal law, the punishment for failure to appear scales with the seriousness of the underlying charge: up to one year for a misdemeanor, up to two years for most felonies, up to five years for serious felonies punishable by five or more years, and up to ten years for offenses carrying 15 years or more. That prison time runs consecutively, meaning it stacks on top of any sentence for the original charge rather than running at the same time.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3146 – Penalty for Failure to Appear A failure to appear can also lead to revocation of bail, meaning you sit in jail awaiting trial instead of remaining free.
State penalties vary but follow a similar pattern. If you realize you’ve missed a court date, contact your attorney or the court immediately. Voluntarily addressing the situation is far better than waiting to be picked up on a warrant.