LegalResearchTools

Legal Date Calculator

Count business days between two dates for research timelines, limitation checks and procedural planning.

Last reviewed

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Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser

Research and chronology work is full of date arithmetic: how long between the breach and the claim, how many working days a party had to respond, whether something fell inside a period that has since expired.

This calculator counts both calendar and business days between any two dates, excluding weekends and whatever closures you specify, so a chronology can be checked rather than estimated.

Your numbers

Results update as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere.

One date per line as YYYY-MM-DD.

Result

Business days

21

Calendar days

29

Weekend and closure days
8
Weeks
4.1
Months
1
Closures counted
0
Start on a weekend?
No
End on a weekend?
No

This tool performs arithmetic on the values you enter. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

The count excludes the start date and includes the end date. Courts differ on this convention - check the rule that governs your count.

Add court holidays and office closures to the closure list; they are not built in because they differ by court and by year.

How to use the legal date calculator

  1. Enter the two dates in question.
  2. List any closures relevant to a business-day count.
  3. Read both totals - they diverge faster than intuition suggests.
  4. Check whether either date falls on a weekend before relying on a count.

What people use this for

  • Checking intervals in a chronology.
  • Measuring how long a party actually had to respond.
  • Converting a period expressed in working days into calendar dates.
  • Sanity-checking a limitation calculation before relying on it.

Worked examples

Every figure below is produced by running this calculator against the example inputs, so the numbers always match the tool.

A response window

Two March to thirty-one March 2026.

Business days
21
Calendar days
29
Weeks
4.1

A longer period

Two March 2026 to two March 2027, a full year.

Business days
261
Calendar days
365
Months
12

Calendar and business days diverge quickly

Thirty calendar days is about twenty-one business days. Ninety is roughly sixty-four. Over a year the gap is more than a hundred days.

A chronology or a timeline that mixes the two conventions without saying which is which is a chronology that will eventually be wrong. Stating the convention alongside each interval is worth the extra words.

This is arithmetic, not a limitation opinion

Limitation periods depend on when a cause of action accrued, whether any suspension or extension applies, whether the period is calendar or otherwise, and rules that differ substantially between jurisdictions and causes of action.

This calculator counts days between two dates you supply. It does not know when a period started, whether it has been suspended, or what rule applies - and a limitation calculation should never rest on a day count alone.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

  • Business days exclude weekends and listed closures. The start date is excluded and the end date included.
  • Calendar days are the raw difference. Weeks and months derive from the calendar day count.
  • No jurisdiction-specific rules, suspensions or extensions are applied.
  • The tool performs arithmetic or date counting on the values you enter. It does not interpret a rule, a statute or a contract.
  • Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This website provides general informational and productivity tools and does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.

The date and deadline tools count days exactly as you instruct them. They do not interpret court rules, statutes of limitation, filing requirements or any other legal authority, and they do not know the rules of your jurisdiction.

Always verify any date, fee, or calculation against the governing rule, the court calendar and your own professional judgement. If you need legal advice, consult a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use this for a limitation period?

Only as arithmetic. When a period starts, whether it has been suspended and what rule applies are legal questions this tool cannot answer.

Does the start date count?

Not here - the start date is excluded and the end date included. Check which convention the rule you are applying uses.

Why enter closures manually?

Because court and public holiday schedules differ by jurisdiction and year. A built-in list would be wrong more often than right.

Is this legal advice?

No. It counts days on the instructions you give it and does not interpret any rule.

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