FAQ: Legal Holidays

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By David deForrest General Manager

What is a "Legal Holiday" in Florida?

This is an important question and one on which few people, including real estate agents and attorneys, are fully up-to-date. Time periods for performance of obligations, or for cancellation or withdrawals of purchase contracts are often stated as "Business Days" which are defined as excluding, "Saturday, Sunday and Legal Holidays."

You may think that "everyone knows" what a "Legal Holiday" is but you will probably be in for a surprise if you are not careful.

In Florida real estate purchase transactions are governed by Florida Statutes. Here is a list.

683.01 Legal holidays.--

(1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are the following:

(a)  Sunday, the first day of each week.
(b)  New Year's Day, January 1.
(c)  Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15.
(d)  Birthday of Robert E. Lee, January 19.
(e)  Lincoln's Birthday, February 12.
(f)  Susan B. Anthony's Birthday, February 15.
(g)  Washington's Birthday, the third Monday in February.
(h)  Good Friday.
(i)  Pascua Florida Day, April 2.
(j)  Confederate Memorial Day, April 26.
(k)  Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.
(l)  Birthday of Jefferson Davis, June 3.
(m)  Flag Day, June 14.
(n)  Independence Day, July 4.
(o)  Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
(p)  Columbus Day and Farmers' Day, the second Monday in October.
(q)  Veterans' Day, November 11.
(r)  General Election Day.
(s)  Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November.
(t)  Christmas Day, December 25.
(u)  Shrove Tuesday, sometimes also known as "Mardi Gras," in counties where carnival associations are organized for the purpose of celebrating the same.

(2) Whenever any legal holiday shall fall upon a Sunday, the Monday next following shall be deemed a public holiday for all and any of the purposes aforesaid.

I'll bet you've never heard of half of these Legal Holidays, yet each one is a day exempted from the calculation when you are trying to determine the important dates for contract fulfillment etc.

To make matters even more confusing, the Legal Holidays stated above are not the "Legal Holidays" you would need to use, as a Florida Landlord, in calculating the expiration date of the mandatory "3-Day Notice" you must give a delinquent tenant before proceeding to file suit for eviction! That's because the Florida Landlord-Tenant Act defines "Legal Holidays" not by reference to 683.01 above but in the following language:

Florida Statues 83.43(13) "Legal holiday" means holidays observed by the clerk of the court.

Here is a list of Holidays observed by the Miami-Dade District Courts in 2011. Note that this will vary from county to county and from year-to-year:

The following legal holidays are officially observed by Miami-Dade County government.

County-Observed Holidays for the Year 2011

Christmas Day
Monday, December 26

New Year's Day

Monday, January 2, 2012

County-Observed Holidays for the Year 2012

Martin Luther King's Birthday
Monday, January 16

President's Day
Monday, February 20

Memorial Day
Monday, May 28

Independence Day
Wednesday, July 4

Labor Day
Monday, September 3

Columbus Day
Monday, October 8

Veterans Day
Monday, November 12

Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 22

Friday after Thanksgiving
Friday, November 23

Christmas Day
Tuesday, December 25

New Year's Day

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Here is a link to the Miami-Dade Clerk's web site which shows the Legal Holidays recognized by the Clerk of the Court in Miami-Dade County. If you own property in other counties, you should check with the Clerk of the Court for the particular county where your property is located.

I hope this helps explain why we always recommend that Buyers, Sellers and Landlords use a Florida Attorney when making a purchase, a sale or enforcing the terms of a lease. These seemingly simple matters are not as simple as they might seem.