When must a defendant answer a Delaware Chancery complaint?

Valid service of the summons and complaint on this defendant

The complaint filing date and another defendant’s service date do not start this answer period. Preserve the actual process and proof of service.

Responsible actor. The defendant served with the summons and complaint. Use the ordinary 20-day answer branch after valid service that was not exclusively by mail. No different statute, Rule 12 motion or court schedule applies.

1. Use the ordinary 20-day answer branch after valid service that was not exclusively by mail. No different statute, Rule 12 motion or court schedule applies.
2. Exclude the trigger day and count 20 calendar days under Rule 6(a)(1). The less-than-11-day exclusion does not apply. Check the final weekend, legal holiday and actual Register accessibility.
3. Check the actual holidays, additional closures and applicable electronic or paper boundary.
4. Serve the answer on the required parties and file it under Rule 5. Preserve both completed acts.

Rule 6(a)(1) excludes the event day. Periods below eleven days exclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays; eleven days or more include them. A final weekend or legal holiday moves forward for an after-event period and backward for a before-event period. Rule 6(a)(3) separately addresses actual Register inaccessibility for filings. Rule 6(a)(5) includes section 501 holidays and days declared by the Governor. Good Friday and Thanksgiving Friday are Delaware holidays. Sunday July 4, 2027 is observed Monday July 5. Check county-specific Sussex Return Day and additional actual closures separately; the bundled calendar does not determine those filing conditions.

Rule 6(c) adds three calendar days after the ordinary Rule 6(a) period only for an act measured after service made exclusively by mail. It applies to party acts, not Court acts. Electronic service, an entry-based clock and a filing-based clock do not acquire that addition merely because a paper copy is mailed. These calculations show the disclosed nonexclusive-mail base component; they do not implement the mail-only addition or infer service effectiveness.

These reviewed calculators use the official edition current as of June 1, 2026. Events before that date and backward periods crossing before that date receive no computed or paid date. This is publication coverage, not a finding that an actual procedural act is late. Historical editions, emergency measures, court-modified dates and actual additional closures require separate review.

Fictitious example

Use the ordinary 20-day answer branch after valid service that was not exclusively by mail. No different statute, Rule 12 motion or court schedule applies. Ordinary current-edition facts, no changed order and no exclusively mailed incoming service.

Fictitious current-edition facts. This is the disclosed component with no altered order or additional actual closure. It does not establish effective service, completed filing, judicial action or procedural entitlement. Exclusively mailed incoming-service additions require separate review.

Rule 12 motion

Serving a qualifying motion directed at all or part of the pleading changes the response timing. Use the resulting notice or statement-service branch.

Different controlling time

The opening qualification preserves another time specified by rule or statute. An extension requires the applicable court action.

Mail-only service and actual court schedule

Rule 6(c) adds three calendar days after the ordinary Rule 6(a) period only for an act measured after service made exclusively by mail. It applies to party acts, not Court acts. Electronic service, an entry-based clock and a filing-based clock do not acquire that addition merely because a paper copy is mailed. These calculations show the disclosed nonexclusive-mail base component; they do not implement the mail-only addition or infer service effectiveness.

Current edition and historical scope

These reviewed calculators use the official edition current as of June 1, 2026. Events before that date and backward periods crossing before that date receive no computed or paid date. This is publication coverage, not a finding that an actual procedural act is late. Historical editions, emergency measures, court-modified dates and actual additional closures require separate review.

• Use the ordinary 20-day answer branch after valid service that was not exclusively by mail. No different statute, Rule 12 motion or court schedule applies.
• The base calculation does not obtain an extension, resolve a different branch or establish that the responsible actor completed the required act.

• Valid service of the summons and complaint on this defendant
• The complaint filing date and another defendant’s service date do not start this answer period. Preserve the actual process and proof of service.
• Serving a qualifying motion directed at all or part of the pleading changes the response timing. Use the resulting notice or statement-service branch.
• The opening qualification preserves another time specified by rule or statute. An extension requires the applicable court action.
• Serve the answer on the required parties and file it under Rule 5. Preserve both completed acts.
• For electronic service and filing, Rule 5(d) uses midnight for an original complaint, notice of appeal, or paper in a summary proceeding or an action ordered expedited. Other papers in other actions must be served or filed by 5:00 p.m. Use Delaware local court time and preserve actual completed transmission and docket treatment. Do not replace the ordinary boundary with a federal midnight rule. Rule 5(c)(2)(B) permits self-represented delivery to the Register with the required fee, deemed filed when delivered. Check actual office availability. Rule 5(e) permits the Court, on satisfactory proof, to deem an unsuccessful electronic attempt timely; relief is not automatic.