How to Vacate a Default Judgment in Illinois After 30 Days

To vacate a default judgment in Illinois after 30 days have passed, you file a petition under Section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure in the same court that entered the judgment. The petition must be supported by an affidavit and must prove three things: you have a meritorious defense to the underlying claim, you had a reasonable excuse for not responding to the original lawsuit, and you acted diligently once you learned about the judgment. You generally have two years from the date the judgment was entered to file.¹

Why the 30-Day Line Matters

Inside 30 days of the judgment, Illinois lets you file a simple motion under Section 2-1301(e). The court “may on motion filed within 30 days after entry thereof set aside any final order or judgment upon any terms and conditions that shall be reasonable.”² The standard is forgiving and the judge has broad discretion.³

Once day 31 arrives, that door closes. Filing a 2-1301(e) motion late is untimely and the court will deny it. Your only remaining path is a Section 2-1401 petition, which is a separate proceeding with stricter requirements and a higher burden of proof. The clock ran from the date the judgment was entered, not the date you found out about it, which is why people who were never properly served often land on this side of the line without realizing it.

The Two-Year Filing Window

A Section 2-1401 petition must generally be filed within two years of the judgment’s entry.¹ The statute pauses that clock for time you were under a legal disability or duress, or time during which the grounds for relief were fraudulently concealed from you. Those are exceptions you would have to prove, not defaults the court applies on its own.

If you are past two years and none of the tolling exceptions fit, the 2-1401 route is closed, and your only remaining argument is that the judgment is void for lack of jurisdiction. That is a narrower path, discussed below.

The Three Things You Have to Prove

The Illinois Supreme Court set the governing standard in Smith v. Airoom, Inc. To win relief under Section 2-1401, you must prove each of the following by a preponderance of the evidence.⁴ All three elements must be satisfied; failing on even one is enough for the court to deny the petition.⁵

A Meritorious Defense

You need a legitimate defense that could change the outcome if the case were actually tried. Courts will not reopen a case just because you missed your chance to be heard. You have to show the reopened case would be genuinely contested. Be specific: if the debt is not yours, explain why; if you already paid it, attach proof; if the amount is wrong, show the correct figures. A conclusory statement that you have “a valid defense” will not carry this element.

A Reasonable Excuse for Not Responding Originally

You need to explain why you did not answer the lawsuit in the first place. Forgetting about it or setting it aside is not enough. Accepted excuses tend to involve things like never receiving the summons or a serious medical emergency during the response window. This is where petitions with strong defenses often fail: the defense is real, but the excuse for missing the original deadline is thin.

Diligence in Filing the Petition

You need to have acted promptly once you learned about the default judgment. The court will look at the gap between when you discovered the judgment and when you filed. Months of unexplained delay undermines this element even if the other two are strong. If you learned of the judgment when your wages were garnished or your bank account frozen, document that date and move quickly.

If the Judgment Is Void, Different Rules Apply

A judgment entered without personal jurisdiction is void. The most common example is defective service: the plaintiff never actually served you, or served someone who was not authorized to accept service on your behalf. Section 2-1401(f) preserves the right to challenge a void judgment outside the normal framework: “Nothing contained in this Section affects any existing right to relief from a void order or judgment, or to employ any existing method to procure that relief.”¹

In practical terms, the two-year deadline does not apply to void judgments, and you do not have to satisfy the Smith v. Airoom three-part test. What you do have to prove is that the court never had jurisdiction over you in the first place. Acting promptly is still the safer course, but the void-judgment theory is what keeps a challenge alive when the two-year window has closed.

Preparing and Filing the Petition

You file the petition in the same court that entered the default judgment. Section 2-1401 requires an affidavit or equivalent showing as to any facts that are not already part of the court record.¹ Your petition should walk through each Airoom element with concrete facts and attach the supporting documents.

You must serve the petition and a notice of hearing on the opposing party. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 11, as amended effective October 1, 2024, makes electronic service the default. Service goes by email or through an approved electronic filing service provider. If a self-represented party has no email address, or extraordinary circumstances prevent electronic service, the rule allows alternatives: personal delivery, leaving documents at the party’s residence with a household member at least 13 years old, U.S. mail, or a commercial carrier.⁶ Get the other party’s service email from their court filings and serve through the proper channel; skipping this step can cost you the hearing.

At the hearing, you carry the burden of persuasion. Bring the affidavit, any evidence of defective service, documentation of when you first learned about the judgment, and materials supporting your defense to the underlying claim.

What Happens After the Ruling

If the court grants the petition, the default judgment is vacated and the case resets. You will need to answer the original complaint, and the lawsuit proceeds as if the default never happened. That means active-defendant obligations: discovery, hearings, and deadlines.

If the court denies the petition, the judgment stands with full enforcement force. You can appeal, but appellate courts review the trial judge’s decision for abuse of discretion, which is a demanding standard. You would have to show a clear error in applying the law or evaluating the facts, not just disagreement with the outcome.

Mistakes That Sink Late Petitions

Waiting too long after learning about the judgment is the single biggest killer. Even a strong defense will not save a petition if months went by between discovery and filing without explanation. The diligence element in Airoom demands prompt action once you know.⁴

Vague petitions are the next most common failure. Broad assertions that you have a defense, without laying out the specific facts and attaching the proof, will not satisfy the meritorious-defense element. The court is not going to take your word for any of it.

Filing under the wrong section wastes time you may not have. A Section 2-1301(e) motion filed after 30 days is untimely on its face. If you are past that line, the petition has to be a 2-1401 petition, with the affidavit and the full three-part showing.

Skipping proper service under Rule 11 is the last common misstep. Electronic service is now the default, and if you do not serve the opposing party correctly, the court may refuse to hear the petition at all.⁶

1
Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/2-1401
2
Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/2-1301
3
Illinois Courts. Kral v. Fredhill Press Co., Inc.
4
Justia. Smith v. Airoom, Inc.
5
Illinois Courts. S.C. Vaughan Oil Co. v. Caldwell, Troutt and Alexander
6
Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 11