A motion to open judgment in Connecticut asks the same Superior Court that decided your case to set the ruling aside so the matter can move forward again. Under Connecticut General Statutes Section 52-212a, you generally have four months from the date the court sends notice of the judgment to file, and you need a legally recognized reason: newly discovered evidence, fraud, lack of proper service, or another recognized defect. Fraud-based motions can bypass the four-month deadline; most others cannot.
The Four-Month Deadline and Its Exceptions
The clock is the first thing to pin down, because missing it usually ends the matter. Section 52-212a runs the four months from the date the court sends notice of the judgment, not the date the judge announced the ruling or the date it was entered on the docket.1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-212a – Civil Judgment or Decree Opened or Set Aside Within Four Months Only If you’re not sure when notice went out, the clerk’s office can tell you. Once the window closes, the court loses jurisdiction to grant statutory relief no matter how strong your reasons are.
Practice Book Section 17-4 tracks the same four-month rule and allows the parties to waive it or otherwise submit to the court’s jurisdiction, so both sides can agree to let the court reopen the judgment after the deadline.2Connecticut Judicial Branch. Motion to Open Judgment in Family Matters
Fraud is the big exception. Connecticut courts have inherent authority to reopen a judgment obtained by fraud, without actual consent, or through mutual mistake at any time, independent of the statute. The Connecticut Supreme Court confirmed that authority in Wolfork v. Yale Medical Group, 335 Conn. 448 (2020). Even so, you cannot sit on what you know. Courts will deny relief when a party discovered the fraud and waited without good reason to act.3Connecticut Judicial Branch. Conroy v. Idlibi
One other narrow window has no time limit: in a dissolution of marriage or legal separation case where the defendant defaulted, the judgment can be set aside at any time if the plaintiff’s affidavit contained a material misrepresentation.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-212 – Opening Judgment Upon Default or Nonsuit
Grounds the Court Will Accept
Being unhappy with the outcome is not a reason. The recognized grounds fall into a few categories.
Newly Discovered Evidence
Evidence that surfaces after judgment can support a motion if it is genuinely new, meaning you could not have found it before trial with reasonable effort, and if it goes to the core issues in the case. Evidence that only chips away at a witness’s credibility, or repeats what the court already heard, is not enough.
Fraud or Misrepresentation
A judgment obtained through falsified documents, hidden assets, or perjured testimony can be set aside. You need clear proof of the fraud and a showing that the outcome would probably have been different without the deception.2Connecticut Judicial Branch. Motion to Open Judgment in Family Matters Delay in filing after discovery is fatal.
Legal Errors and Due Process Problems
If the court misapplied the law, or you were never properly notified of the proceedings, the judgment may be voidable. Defective service is the most common due process ground: if you never got notice of the lawsuit, the court’s jurisdiction over you was flawed from the beginning, and the judgment can be attacked on that basis.
Extra Rules for Default and Nonsuit Judgments
Default judgments (entered when a defendant fails to respond) and nonsuit judgments (entered when a plaintiff fails to prosecute) come with added requirements under Section 52-212. Beyond filing within four months, you must show two things: that you had a valid claim or defense, and that mistake, accident, or other reasonable cause prevented you from presenting it.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-212 – Opening Judgment Upon Default or Nonsuit
The motion must be verified under oath, either by you or your attorney, and it must describe your claim or defense in general terms while explaining specifically why you failed to appear or respond.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-212 – Opening Judgment Upon Default or Nonsuit This is where many motions fail. A vague “I didn’t know about the case,” without details about what went wrong and what defense you would have raised, rarely persuades a judge.
Filing the Motion
Drafting
File a written motion with the clerk of the Superior Court that entered the original judgment. Identify the legal ground for reopening clearly, and attach supporting material. For newly discovered evidence, include the evidence itself or explain what it is and why it wasn’t available earlier. For fraud, spell out the specific misrepresentations and how they affected the outcome. For a default or nonsuit, remember to verify the motion under oath and cover both the defense you would have raised and the reason you failed to appear.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-212 – Opening Judgment Upon Default or Nonsuit
Serving the Other Side
Serve a copy of the motion on every opposing party. Bad service can get your motion dismissed before the judge reads a word of your argument. The Connecticut Practice Book governs how service must be carried out.
Filing Fees and Waivers
The fee depends on the case type:
- General civil matters: $130
- Post-judgment family relations modifications: $180
- Housing and landlord-tenant matters: $75
- Small claims matters: $75
There is no fee for motions involving juvenile matters or protective orders under Sections 46b-15 or 46b-16a.5Justia. Connecticut Code 52-259c – Fee to Open, Set Aside, Modify, Extend or Reargue Judgment
Under Section 52-259b, the court can waive the fee. You are presumed eligible if you receive public assistance or your income after taxes, mandatory deductions, and child care expenses is at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level, and the court can grant waivers in other cases when circumstances warrant it.6Justia. Connecticut Code 52-259b – Waiver of Fees and Cost of Service of Process
How the Court Decides
Judges have broad discretion and start from a position of skepticism about disturbing final judgments. The Connecticut Supreme Court has said a judgment “should be left undisturbed by post-trial motions except for a good and compelling reason,” because without that principle “there might never be an end to litigation.”7FindLaw. Chapman Lumber Inc v. Tager
Courts weigh the strength of your reason, how promptly you acted, whether reopening would unfairly prejudice the other side, and whether justice actually requires a second look. A motion that amounts to relitigating arguments you already made, or could have made, is almost always denied. For fraud claims, courts often use a preliminary probable-cause step before allowing full discovery on the fraud allegations.2Connecticut Judicial Branch. Motion to Open Judgment in Family Matters
If the Motion Is Granted or Denied
If the court grants the motion, the judgment is set aside and the case returns to active status as though the original ruling never became final. That can mean a new trial, additional hearings, or a chance to present evidence or arguments that weren’t in the record before. When the ground was newly discovered evidence, the court may limit the reopening to that evidence rather than restart the whole case.
If the court denies the motion, the original judgment stands. You can appeal the denial, but the standard on appeal is abuse of discretion, a high bar. In Worth v. Korta, 132 Conn. App. 154 (2011), the Appellate Court upheld a refusal to reopen based on claimed newly discovered evidence, finding no abuse of discretion.8Connecticut Judicial Branch. Worth v. Korta, 132 Conn. App. 154 (2011) If the denial was for a curable procedural defect, you may be able to refile, but only if the four-month deadline hasn’t expired. That makes getting the first filing right more important than most people realize.
Filing Does Not Stop Collection
Filing a motion to open does not pause collection efforts, wage garnishments, or other enforcement of the judgment against you. If the other side has already begun executing, that continues unless you separately ask the court for a stay. A stay is not automatic. The judge will look at your likelihood of success and any harm a delay would cause the other side, and may condition the stay on a bond or other security if substantial money is at stake.
Motion to Open vs. Appeal
These are different tools. A motion to open is filed in the same trial court and usually rests on factual problems, such as new evidence, fraud, or defective service. An appeal goes to a higher court, the Appellate Court or Supreme Court, and argues that the trial judge got the law or procedure wrong. Both can sometimes be pursued, but the timelines are separate and much tighter for an appeal, which generally must be filed within 20 days of the judgment. Picking the wrong path, or missing either deadline, can leave you with no remedy.