Under Section 11, Rule 11 of the 2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant may, for meritorious reasons, be granted an additional period of not more than thirty (30) calendar days to file an answer.

A defendant is only allowed to file one (1) motion for extension of time to file an answer.

A motion for extension to file any pleading, other than an answer, is prohibited and considered a mere scrap of paper. The court, however, may allow any other pleading to be filed after the time fixed by the Rules.