In federal court, you have 90 days to serve someone after filing your complaint. State courts set their own rules, and the deadline can run anywhere from 60 days to three years depending on where you filed and what kind of case it is. The rules of the specific court where your case sits control your deadline, so that is the first thing to check.
The 90-Day Federal Deadline
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) draws a firm line. If a defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court must either dismiss the action without prejudice or order the plaintiff to complete service within a specified time.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 – Summons The clock starts the day the clerk accepts your complaint for filing. Not the day you were injured, and not the day you first realized you had a claim.
The period used to be 120 days. Congress shortened it in 2015. Older resources still reference the 120-day figure, and that information is outdated.
One boundary to know: the 90-day rule does not apply when you need to serve a defendant in a foreign country. International service runs on separate rules and separate timelines because of the practical difficulty of delivering legal documents abroad.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 – Summons
State Court Deadlines Vary Widely
There is no universal service deadline in the United States. Each state sets its own timeframe. Some give plaintiffs as little as 60 days. Others allow several years. The federal 90-day rule is a useful benchmark, but it tells you nothing about what a state court requires.
Deadlines also vary by case type within a single state. A landlord-tenant dispute, a small claims case, and a standard civil lawsuit may each carry different service requirements in the same courthouse. The only reliable way to know your deadline is to look up the rules for the specific court and case type where you filed. Court clerks can usually point you to the right rule, and most state court websites publish their procedural rules online.
How to Count the Days
Calculating the deadline correctly matters more than people expect. In federal court, when counting any period stated in days, you exclude the day the complaint was filed and start counting from the next day. If the final day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal legal holiday, your deadline extends to the end of the next business day.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time
Federal legal holidays include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Any day declared a holiday by the President, Congress, or the state where the federal district court sits also counts.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time State courts follow their own counting rules, which are usually similar but not always identical.
Getting More Time Before the Deadline Passes
If the 90-day window is closing and service is not done, you have two paths to an extension. The distinction between them matters.
The first is a good-cause extension. If you can show the court a legitimate reason for the delay, the court is required to grant additional time. Good cause means demonstrating diligent efforts to serve the defendant that failed through no fault of your own. Common examples include a defendant who is actively evading service, an address that turned out to be wrong despite a reasonable search, or logistical obstacles outside your control.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 – Summons
The second is a discretionary extension. Even without good cause, the court still has the power to give you more time instead of dismissing. Rule 4(m) gives the court a choice: dismiss without prejudice or order that service be made within a specified time. Courts weigh factors like whether the statute of limitations has run, whether the defendant had actual notice of the lawsuit, and whether any prejudice would result from the delay.
File the motion before the deadline expires whenever possible. Under the general federal time-computation rules, a court can extend a deadline for good cause if the request comes in before the original time runs out. Asking after the deadline has passed puts you in a worse position, requiring a showing of excusable neglect rather than mere good cause.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time
What Happens if You Miss the Deadline
Miss the deadline with no extension in hand, and the court must either dismiss the case without prejudice or set a new deadline for service.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 – Summons The defendant can file a motion to dismiss, or the court can act on its own after giving you notice.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 41 – Dismissal of Actions
A dismissal without prejudice sounds mild, and in theory it is. The case is not permanently barred, and you can refile. But that comfort evaporates if the statute of limitations on your underlying claim has expired while you were trying to complete service. A dismissed case does not automatically pause the limitations clock. Refile after the statute has run, and the defendant will move to dismiss the refiled case as time-barred. In many situations they will succeed. Some states have savings statutes that give plaintiffs a short window to refile after a dismissal even if the original limitations period has expired, but these vary widely and typically allow only one such renewal.
A dismissal with prejudice is the worst outcome. It permanently bars you from bringing the same claim against the same defendant. In service-failure cases it is rare but not impossible. It can happen when a plaintiff has a pattern of ignoring court deadlines, has already been given extensions and still failed to serve, or has otherwise shown a disregard for court rules and orders. At that point the court treats the failure as egregious enough for a permanent bar.
The practical takeaway is straightforward. Treat the service deadline as a hard wall. Calendar it the day you file. If service looks like it will be difficult, start working on an extension motion early rather than waiting until the last day.