Beginning December 1, 2009 new time deadlines for bankruptcy cases will take effect. Deadlines will be computed in multiples of seven instead of five. The change is intended to minimize instances where deadlines are due on weekends.

Bankruptcy cases involve a large variety of deadlines based on multiples of five. You are given five days to submit documents, ten days to appeal, fifteen days to file pleadings, and twenty to twenty-five days to object. Any time period that is less than 30 days will be changing to the new seven day system.  In other words, five day deadlines become seven days, ten and fifteen day deadlines will become fourteen days, twenty day deadlines will change to twenty-one and twenty-five day periods will become twenty-eight days.

Weekends and holidays have been counted as any other day. When a bankruptcy court issued an order requiring action within ten days, that order would fall due on a weekend if it was issued on a Wednesday or a Thursday. Ten days later would be Saturday or Sunday, respectively. 

With the change in the bankruptcy law, seven, fourteen, twenty-one or twenty-eight day deadlines will always be due the same day of the week as the day the original order is issued. Since the bankruptcy court is closed on weekends, the seven day system will eliminate a lot of the confusion that surrounds weekend deadlines.

The Statutory Time Period Technical Amendments Act of 2009 is the name of the new law. It alters the time period of nine sections of the Bankruptcy Code.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, and have any questions, please contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelp Email, free-consultation form.