How to File a Motion for Enlargement of Time in Court

To file a motion for an enlargement of time, you submit a written request to the court identifying the deadline you need moved, explaining specifically why, proposing a new date, and serving the motion on every other party in the case. Do it before the current deadline expires if you can. That single choice determines whether the judge applies a forgiving standard or a strict one, and it shapes almost everything else about how the motion is drafted and received.

File Before the Deadline If You Possibly Can

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b) gives courts authority to extend deadlines, and it draws a sharp line based on when you ask. If the deadline hasn’t passed, the court can grant more time “for good cause,” with or without a formal motion. Once the deadline expires, the court can only extend time on a motion showing “excusable neglect.”¹

Good cause is a forgiving standard. A concrete reason, a reasonable proposed date, and a request filed promptly are usually enough. Excusable neglect is a different animal. The Supreme Court in Pioneer Investment Services Co. v. Brunswick Associates Ltd. Partnership laid out four factors courts weigh: prejudice to the other side, length of the delay, the reason for the delay and whether it was within the movant’s control, and whether the movant acted in good faith.² In practice, the reason for the delay carries the most weight. Simple carelessness or indifference to a deadline is not excusable.

State courts follow analogous rules with their own wording, and local rules on top of that often add requirements like conferring with opposing counsel or capping the number of extensions. Check your court’s local rules before you draft anything.

What Goes in the Motion

Every motion must state the specific grounds for the request and identify the relief sought.³ For an extension request, that translates into a filing package with several pieces:

A caption matching your case: court name, case number, party names, and assigned judge.
A title identifying the request, such as “Motion for Enlargement of Time to File Response.”
A body that names the specific deadline, states when it currently expires, explains in concrete detail why more time is needed, and proposes a new date. A request for “additional time” with no specific date reads as unserious.
Any supporting affidavit or declaration, served with the motion itself.¹
A proposed order for the judge to sign, if your district court requires one. Appellate courts generally do not.
A certificate of service showing you served every other party.
A signature block with your name, bar number if applicable, and contact information.

Some courts have template forms for extension motions. If yours does, use it.

Reasons That Work, Reasons That Don’t

Certain justifications come up repeatedly and generally succeed when documented. Serious illness or hospitalization that physically prevented compliance. A change in legal representation, where new counsel needs time to review the file. Third-party delays, such as waiting on hospital or agency records you’ve diligently pursued. An expert witness who needs more time to complete a report. An original timeline that was unreasonably short for the complexity of the case.

What courts reject: heavy workload, failure to calendar the deadline, general busyness, vague claims of needing more time. The reason has to be specific and verifiable. Courts have accepted clerical errors like misreading a filing date as excusable neglect, but simple inattention does not qualify, and clients are held accountable for their attorneys’ errors. Blaming your lawyer is not an automatic pass.

Backing It Up with Documentation

Judges will not take your word for it. They want records that independently confirm the reason you’ve cited.

For medical issues, attach treating records or a signed declaration from a healthcare provider describing the condition and how it interfered with meeting the deadline. For new counsel, include a declaration explaining when the attorney was retained, the volume and complexity of the file, and a realistic estimate of the preparation time needed. For third-party delays, attach your written requests for the records and any responses that show the delay is not your fault.

The documentation should tell a clean story on its own: you acted diligently, something outside your control intervened, and a specific amount of additional time will resolve it. A medical record showing a routine checkup will not support a claim of incapacity. Correspondence showing you sat on a records request for three months will not support a third-party-delay theory.

Get the Other Side’s Position First

Many local rules require you to state whether opposing counsel consents, objects, or hasn’t responded. Some courts call this a certificate of conference. Even where it isn’t required, judges look at it first. If the opposing side agrees, the motion usually gets granted with little scrutiny. If you didn’t bother to ask, some judges will deny the motion on that basis alone.

When everyone consents, you can file a stipulated (or joint, or agreed) motion. Courts still require good cause, but in practice, an agreed request with a reasonable proposed date is routinely approved without briefing or a hearing.¹ The filing typically states that the parties conferred, agreed on the new deadline, and that no party will be prejudiced. Both sides sign, or the filing attorney certifies that opposing counsel concurs.

Stipulations have limits. Courts will not approve an agreed extension that would interfere with a trial date or blow through a scheduling order without a separate showing of good cause. And by the second or third extension, even an agreed request gets harder to justify.

Deadlines You Can’t Extend

Some deadlines are off-limits regardless of your reason. Rule 6(b)(2) prohibits courts from extending time under Rules 50(b) and (d), 52(b), 59(b), (d), and (e), and 60(b) — the post-trial and post-judgment motions with 28-day windows and Rule 60(b)’s reasonable-time and one-year limits.¹⁴ The common thread is finality. Filing a motion for enlargement of time on any of these will be denied no matter how compelling your circumstances.

Appeal deadlines are similarly constrained. In most civil cases, you have 30 days after entry of judgment to file a notice of appeal. A district court can extend that by up to 30 additional days on a showing of excusable neglect or good cause, but only if the motion is filed within that 30-day extension window.⁵ Miss that outer boundary and the right to appeal is gone.

After the Court Rules

If the motion is granted, the order will specify the new deadline. Calculate it carefully. Under the federal rules, exclude the day the order was entered, count every calendar day after that (including weekends and holidays), and include the last day. If that last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.¹

Treat the new deadline as a hard stop. A party who received extra time and then missed the new date has burned through the court’s goodwill, and a second request faces an uphill fight. Sanctions, dismissed claims, or stricken defenses become real possibilities.

If the motion is denied, you remain bound to the original deadline. Depending on what you were supposed to file, consequences range from excluded evidence to losing your right to respond, to dismissed claims or a default judgment. Act immediately. Reassess what can still be filed on time and consult counsel about whether an emergency motion or other remedy remains available.

Service and Filing Logistics

Every written motion must be served on all other parties.⁶ In most federal courts, represented parties file through the CM/ECF electronic system, and electronic filing automatically serves other registered users. A pro se litigant who isn’t registered for electronic filing will need to file paper copies with the clerk and serve opposing parties by mail or hand delivery.

Filing fees vary. Many courts charge no separate fee for a motion for enlargement of time, but some state courts assess a motion filing fee. Confirm with the clerk before filing so the motion isn’t rejected for nonpayment.

1
Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time; Time for Motion Papers
2
Cornell Law Institute. Pioneer Inv. Servs. v. Brunswick Assocs., 507 U.S. 380 (1993)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 7 – Pleadings Allowed; Form of Motions
4
United States Courts. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2107 – Time for Appeal to Court of Appeals
6
Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers