When must I file a motion to extend civil appeal time?

Establish when the prescribed Rule 4(a) appeal period actually expires.

Use that expiry as the input. Judgment entry alone does not establish this thirty-day starting event.

File the motion in the district court and establish excusable neglect or good cause. A pending motion does not replace a notice deadline.

1. Establish the original appeal expiry independently.
2. Exclude that expiry day.
3. Count thirty calendar days.
4. Check final-day rollover, district filing and the required showing.

Exclude the independently established original expiry. Count thirty calendar days under FRAP 26(a) and carry a closed final day forward. This is the motion deadline, not an automatically extended appeal period.

FRAP 26(a) excludes the triggering day, counts intermediate calendar days and carries a final Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday forward. Rule 26(a)(6) includes federal holidays, President or Congress declared holidays and, for forward periods, state-declared holidays where the challenged district court or circuit clerk’s principal office is located. Check actual state holidays, inaccessibility and any different prescribed time.

Fictitious example

Fictitious facts. Independently established expiry of the time prescribed by Rule 4(a) is independently established on 2026-07-06. No extra holiday, inaccessibility or unresolved starting event is assumed. Thirty days after July 6 reaches assumed open August 5.

Fictitious facts. The example establishes the starting event separately and assumes no extra holiday or inaccessible clerk.

Required showing

Rule 4(a)(5)(A) requires excusable neglect or good cause. Timely filing does not establish that showing.

Notice of motion

Under Rule 4(a)(5)(B), a motion before Rule 4(a)(1) or (3) expires may be ex parte unless the court requires otherwise. After expiry, give notice under local rules.

Actual grant

The later notice-of-appeal deadline depends on an actual grant and Rule 4(a)(5)(C). The motion’s thirty-day filing window is separate.

• This page does not grant relief, establish appellate entitlement or decide disputed case facts.
• This scoped count does not establish the original expiry, excuse delay or grant appeal relief.

• Verify the original expiry and any listed motion’s effect.
• Prepare the excusable-neglect or good-cause showing.
• Check required notice under Rule 4(a)(5)(B) and local rules.
• File the motion in district court before its qualified expiry.
• These motions and civil notices belong in the district court, not the circuit clerk’s office. FRAP 26(a)(4)(A) uses midnight in the district court’s time zone for electronic district filing unless another time is prescribed. FRAP 26(a)(4)(D) ends ordinary paper filing at the scheduled clerk closing. Subsection (C) separately addresses specified dispatch and mailing methods. FRCP 5(d) addresses motion delivery and electronic filing; check district local instructions and required service. For a notice, independently check FRAP 4(c)’s inmate conditions or Rule 4(d)’s mistaken circuit filing. Mailing alone does not establish ordinary district receipt.