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United States · Delaware Court of Chancery

When is a Chancery response due after a more definite statement is served?

Rule 12(a)(2)(B) ordinarily gives 10 days after service of the more definite statement to serve the responsive pleading. The order granting the motion is a different event.

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Period
10 days for the disclosed rule component
Trigger
Service of the more definite statement on the responding party
Rule
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)

Official rules current as of June 1, 2026, reviewed. The calculator supports this current edition only.

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Which event starts this Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B) inquiry?

Service of the more definite statement on the responding party

First confirm that the Court granted the motion. Notice of the order starts the other party’s compliance inquiry, not this response clock.

Responsible actor. The party responding after service of the more definite statement. Use effective nonexclusive-mail service of the Court-required statement. No different response time has been ordered.

Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)

How does Rule 6 count this particular component?

  1. Use effective nonexclusive-mail service of the Court-required statement. No different response time has been ordered.
  2. Exclude the trigger day and count 10 days that are not Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays under Rule 6(a)(1). These are short-period eligible days, not consecutive calendar days.
  3. Check the actual holidays, additional closures and applicable electronic or paper boundary.
  4. Serve and file the responsive pleading after the actual statement has been served. Preserve the statement and its service event.

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.

Ct. Ch. R. 6(a)–(c)

What does an independently derived example show?

Fictitious example

Use effective nonexclusive-mail service of the Court-required statement. No different response time has been ordered. Ordinary current-edition facts, no changed order and no exclusively mailed incoming service.

Example counting steps
StepWhat is countedDate
Established eventService of the more definite statement on the responding partyAugust 2, 2027
Disclosed rule boundary10 days for the disclosed rule componentAugust 16, 2027
Example resultAugust 16, 2027

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.

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Which qualifications change this procedure?

Different ordered time
Rule 12(a)(2) allows the Court to set a different time.
Separate compliance obligation
The party ordered to supply the statement must obey Rule 12(e) or the actual ordered time.
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.
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)
  • Use effective nonexclusive-mail service of the Court-required statement. No different response time has been ordered.
  • The base calculation does not obtain an extension, resolve a different branch or establish that the responsible actor completed the required act.

Which completed acts and evidence should be preserved?

Questions about Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)

When is a Chancery response due after a more definite statement is served?

Can I start this count from the order?

No. The responsive-pleading branch starts when the more definite statement is served.

Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)

Who owes the statement itself?

The party subject to the more-definite-statement order owes that separate compliance act.

Ct. Ch. R. 12(e)

Does electronic service receive three extra days?

No. Rule 6(c) requires service exclusively by mail for its three-calendar-day addition.

Ct. Ch. R. 6(c)

Official Chancery sources and edition review

Provisions used (13)
Provisions used in this guide
ProvisionPurpose
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)The particular actor, event, procedural act and rule conditions
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Ct. Ch. R. 12(e)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Ct. Ch. R. 12(a)(2)(B)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Ct. Ch. R. 6(c)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Ct. Ch. R. 6(a)–(c)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Ct. Ch. R. 5(b)–(f)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
1 Del. C. § 501(a)–(c)The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Court of Chancery rule editions and amendmentsThe separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
May 18, 2026 implementing order, effective June 1, 2026The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
July 12, 2024 corrected implementing orderThe separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
September 23, 2025 Magistrate amendments, effective September 30, 2025The separately identified counting, filing, procedural qualification or edition source
Register in Chancery filing practices, July 26, 2023Older filing practices, read subject to the current Rule 5 text
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