When must a defendant appear after personal service in New York?

Establish actual personal delivery to this defendant inside New York. Complaint filing and service on a different defendant do not start this period.

Preserve the summons, accompanying complaint or notice, affidavit of service and delivery location. Identify whether a timely CPLR 3012(b) complaint demand changes the appearance period.

Responsible actor. The defendant personally served with the summons within New York. Personal delivery of the summons within New York only, with no timely complaint demand, extension or different court order. Valid service is independently established.

1. Establish actual personal delivery to this defendant inside New York. Complaint filing and service on a different defendant do not start this period.
2. Preserve the summons, accompanying complaint or notice, affidavit of service and delivery location. Identify whether a timely CPLR 3012(b) complaint demand changes the appearance period.
3. Exclude the established trigger day and count 20 calendar days forward. Intermediate weekends and public holidays remain in the count. General Construction Law 25-a permits the next succeeding business day for a closed final statutory day.
4. Appear by serving an answer, a notice of appearance or a motion that extends the time to answer. Preserve valid service and any required filing. A calendar date does not prove an appearance.

General Construction Law 20 excludes the event day. Its closed-intervening-day exception applies to an exact two-day period, not to a one-day period. Intermediate weekends and public holidays count in other calendar-day periods. Section 25-a expressly includes statutory periods before which an act is due and permits the next succeeding business day for a closed final day. Rollover can place a backward boundary on the return date; preserve the stated hour and actual court directions. Roberts, a separately identified uncorrected Supreme Court decision concerning opposition to a cross-motion, applied section 25-a to a Sunday boundary before a Monday return. It is corroboration of that final-day treatment, not a different universal briefing rule.

The independently derived 2026 and 2027 calendar follows General Construction Law 24 and Election Law 8-100. It includes Lincoln’s Birthday, Flag Day on the second Sunday in June, Juneteenth, general election day and the other specified holidays. Section 24 adds the next day when a listed holiday falls on Sunday, except Flag Day. A Saturday holiday is not automatically observed on Friday under this provision. Additional appointed holidays and actual court or system closures require separate proof.

These calculators cover established events and final dates within January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. They require the disclosed statutory branch, independently valid service, no unsupported method addition, no different actual court order and no additional closure. Backward presets require an actual open-day return date. Earlier editions, the 2020 executive-order toll and dates beyond the retained calendar require separate review and receive no computed or paid date. This software coverage boundary does not establish that an actual act is late.

Fictitious example

Personal delivery of the summons within New York only, with no timely complaint demand, extension or different court order. Valid service is independently established. Fictitious established event on the input date. Personal delivery of the summons within New York only, with no timely complaint demand, extension or different court order. Valid service is independently established.

Fictitious established facts. The result does not prove valid service, the required exception, actual filing, preserved jurisdiction or a granted court extension. The applicable hour and actual court directions remain separate checks.

Other summons methods

CPLR 320(a) uses thirty days after completed service for its specified substitute, statutory, out-of-state and other listed methods. Their completion rules require separate evidence.

Summons without complaint

A complaint demand under CPLR 3012(b), made within the appearance period, extends appearance until twenty days after service of the complaint. A demand alone is not an appearance.

Jurisdiction objection

An appearance ordinarily has the effect of personal service unless the specified jurisdiction objection is preserved. Section 320(c) separately addresses section 314 service. Do not assume a notice of appearance preserves every objection.

Late appearance relief

CPLR 3012(d) allows discretionary extension or compelled acceptance on a reasonable excuse and just terms. It does not supply automatic additional days.

Edition and calendar coverage

These calculators cover established events and final dates within January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. They require the disclosed statutory branch, independently valid service, no unsupported method addition, no different actual court order and no additional closure. Backward presets require an actual open-day return date. Earlier editions, the 2020 executive-order toll and dates beyond the retained calendar require separate review and receive no computed or paid date. This software coverage boundary does not establish that an actual act is late.

• Personal delivery of the summons within New York only, with no timely complaint demand, extension or different court order. Valid service is independently established.
• The selected date supplies only the disclosed statutory branch. It does not validate the facts or authorize an unmodeled alternative.

• Establish actual personal delivery to this defendant inside New York. Complaint filing and service on a different defendant do not start this period.
• Preserve the summons, accompanying complaint or notice, affidavit of service and delivery location. Identify whether a timely CPLR 3012(b) complaint demand changes the appearance period.
• Appear by serving an answer, a notice of appearance or a motion that extends the time to answer. Preserve valid service and any required filing. A calendar date does not prove an appearance.
• CPLR 320(a) uses thirty days after completed service for its specified substitute, statutory, out-of-state and other listed methods. Their completion rules require separate evidence.
• A complaint demand under CPLR 3012(b), made within the appearance period, extends appearance until twenty days after service of the complaint. A demand alone is not an appearance.
• An appearance ordinarily has the effect of personal service unless the specified jurisdiction objection is preserved. Section 320(c) separately addresses section 314 service. Do not assume a notice of appearance preserves every objection.
• CPLR 3012(d) allows discretionary extension or compelled acceptance on a reasonable excuse and just terms. It does not supply automatic additional days.
• In the applicable Supreme Court NYSCEF program, rule 202.5-b(d)(3)(i) permits transmission day or night and identifies recorded transmission with required fee information or permitted actual later payment as the filing event. Interlocutory service under (f)(2) depends on the transmitted NYSCEF notification reaching the proper participating addresses. Filing initiating papers does not itself establish defendant service. Under (h)(2), the clerk’s entry notification is not party service of notice of entry. Preserve the actual document, proof, timestamp, fee event, recipients and court requirements. Paper filing requires the applicable office procedure and receipt. The qualifying technical-failure and emergency hard-copy branches in (i) and (d)(1)(iii) require their actual conditions and later electronic filing; they are not presumed here.