Our position is that a hefsek taharah performed even a few minutes after shkiah is too late and the clean days may not begin that night. (In a situation of extreme need – such as confirmed infertility, or serious shalom bayit issues there may be room to permit a hefsek or bedikah within a few minutes after shkiah. Each case must be individually assessed.) However, since there is doubt about the time you actually performed your hefsek – perhaps you really did perform the hefsek at shkiah – you may rely on your Shabbat hefsek taharah.

For the future we recommend performing a backup hefsek earlier in the day on which you plan on performing a late afternoon hefsek. This way if you forget or miss shkiah you may rely on the earlier hefsek.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

B'Hatzlacha!