Verfristen

Verfristen is a German verb meaning to fix or impose a time limit for an action, application, claim, or entitlement. In legal and administrative language, it refers to the act of establishing a deadline by which something must be done or asserted, thereby prescribing a Frist (deadline). The prefix ver- indicates that the time limit is being determined or imposed.

Common contexts include contract drafting, where parties may verfristen the period within which objections can be raised; administrative procedures, where authorities verfristen an application or appeal; and statutory or regulatory texts, where deadlines are allocated to steps in a procedure. The term is formal and most often found in official documents, court decisions, and regulatory notices.

In everyday German, people typically say eine Frist setzen or eine Frist festlegen rather than verfristen. Verfristen should be distinguished from verjährung, which concerns the expiration of a claim through prescription, and from Ablauf or verstrichen, which describe that time has passed.

See also: Frist, Fristsetzung, Verjährung.