An important requirement for maintaining and exercising certain legal rights is properly mailing out notices and filings in a timely fashion. That is why any changes to the mailing process by the United States Postal Service (USPS) can have significant impacts on people and their businesses. A new USPS postmark rule has ended the reliability of a longstanding legal assumption that the postmark date is the same date a document was placed in the mail. As a result, it is important to review and understand this change in order to protect your legal rights.
The New USPS Postmark Rule
Lately the USPS in its efforts to modernize has been taking steps to improve its efficiency. Part of that effort has resulted in consolidating its mail processing operations into fewer regional centers. As a result, on December 24, 2025, the USPS updated how postmark dates are interpreted and applied. In it, the USPS stated that the postmark date does not indicate the first day that USPS obtained possession of the mail.
In the past, postmarks generally reflected the date you placed your mail in a USPS mailbox or at the post office. However, the recent USPS consolidation initiative has resulted in postmarks no longer being applied at local post offices and instead at regional facilities.
Due to this change in logistics, the USPS has clarified that now the postmark reflects the date your envelope is first processed by an automated USPS sorting machine, which may be later than the day you mailed it.
What is the Impact of the New USPS Rule?
For a long period of time, regulators and lawyers have considered it a reliable assumption that the postmark date is the same date that a document was placed in the mail. For this reason, it has been reliably used to determine if your legal filing, legal notices, and other time-sensitive documents were sent timely. Now under the USPS’s new postmarking policy, this assumption is no longer reliable since it is likely the postmark date will be different from the date you placed the document in the mail.
So, if you are still relying on the postmark date when submitting an important, time-sensitive legal document or filing, you may end up with a missed deadline—even if you placed it in the mail by the deadline. And as a result, you may be put in a position where you have to defend the timing, pay a penalty, or lose certain legal rights.
What Steps Can be Taken to Address This Change?
There are a couple of actions you can take to get ahead of the new postmarking rule. When a legal filing or notice has a critical deadline, you have a couple of other options at your disposal besides relying on USPS postmarking to ensure when you mail it, the deadline is met. However, before implementing any of these options, confirm that your contract or filing permits the use of these methods.
You can:
- Mail the document as early as possible to avoid sending important filings and notices out on the deadline;
- Request a manual postmark at the post office counter when you mail the document for no additional fee;
- Use certified or registered mail, which provide documented proof of mailing and delivery;
- Purchase a Certificate of Mailing, which provides evidence that mail was presented for mailing;
- Rely on other carriers that provide dated receipts; or
- Use electronic filing or delivery, if permitted.
Additionally, companies and firms should consider conducting a review of their outstanding and form contracts to determine whether they would like to amend the notice provisions to address the new postmarking rule. Potential, helpful changes could involve adding in timing buffers or express permission for manual postmarks, electronic delivery, or use of private carriers to ensure those options are available.
JAH Can Help
The experienced corporate attorneys at Johnston Allison Hord are tracking legal and regulatory updates that may affect your businesses and can assist your organization with any questions you may have. Contact a member of our Corporate Practice Group or complete our General Contact Form if you are in need of assistance.
Please note that the above JAH article does not constitute legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Should you be in need of legal services regarding a particular matter, please reach out directly to one of our attorneys. Click here for our full website disclaimer.