A motion to vacate a judgment in Texas asks the same court that ruled against you to set that ruling aside, and under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 329b you generally have 30 days from the date the judge signed the judgment to file it. Miss that window and your options shrink fast. The grounds you raise, the timing, and what you put in the motion all decide whether the judgment goes away or stays on your record permanently.
The 30-Day Clock and What It Buys You
The deadline runs from the date the judge signed the judgment, not the date you found out about it, not the date you got a copy in the mail. Thirty days from the signature.
Filing a timely motion extends what Texas calls the trial court’s “plenary power” — its authority to change its own judgment. Once you file within the 30 days, the court keeps that authority until 30 days after it rules on your motion, or 75 days after the original judgment was signed, whichever comes first. If the judge doesn’t rule within 75 days, the motion is denied automatically by operation of law.
A few narrow exceptions exist. If you didn’t learn about the judgment until more than 20 days after it was signed, your 30-day clock may start from the date you actually received notice, but the absolute outer limit is 120 days after the judgment. If you were served by publication rather than personally, Rule 329 gives you two years from the default judgment to seek a new trial. Active-duty military service members get additional time under federal law.
Grounds Texas Courts Will Actually Consider
Disagreeing with the outcome is not a ground. The court needs a recognized legal basis, and the most common ones are:
- Default judgment entered because you never answered the lawsuit, where your failure to respond was a mistake or accident rather than a deliberate choice.
- Newly discovered evidence you could not have reasonably found before judgment.
- Fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct by the opposing party that affected the judgment.
- Lack of jurisdiction — over you, over the subject matter, or over the type of judgment entered.
- Clerical error in the written judgment, correctable under Rule 316 at any time.
Fraud claims draw the closest scrutiny. Saying the other side lied is not enough on its own. You need concrete evidence — contradictory documents, communications, witness testimony — showing the misconduct actually influenced the court’s decision. Vague fraud allegations raised for the first time after a loss rarely succeed.
Default Judgments and the Craddock Test
Default judgments are the most common target. If you were sued and never filed an answer, the court likely entered judgment without hearing your side. Texas courts use the standard from Craddock v. Sunshine Bus Lines, Inc. to decide whether to set that judgment aside, and you have to satisfy all three parts:
- Your failure to answer was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference. It was a mistake or accident — you never received the papers, there was a miscommunication with your attorney, or you genuinely misunderstood the deadline.
- You have a meritorious defense. You don’t have to prove you would win, but you must allege facts that, if true, would defeat the claim.
- Granting a new trial won’t unreasonably delay the case or otherwise harm the other party.
The Craddock standard is deliberately forgiving because Texas courts prefer to resolve cases on the merits. But if the record shows you simply ignored the lawsuit, the motion will be denied. The fight is almost always over the line between an honest mistake and conscious indifference.
Void Judgments Have No Deadline
A void judgment is one the court had no legal authority to enter. The Texas Supreme Court has held that a judgment is void when the court lacked jurisdiction over the parties, lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter, had no power to enter the specific type of judgment, or lacked capacity to act. A due process failure in establishing personal jurisdiction can also make a judgment void.
A void judgment can be challenged at any time through a collateral attack, and the 30-day deadline in Rule 329b does not apply. A voidable judgment — one that has a legal defect but was within the court’s power to enter — can only be challenged directly within the normal deadline. Once that window closes on a voidable judgment, the only route is a bill of review.
If you think the court had no jurisdiction, don’t assume unlimited time. Courts expect reasonable diligence once you know about the problem.
What Goes in the Motion
Identify the specific judgment you’re challenging, state the exact grounds, and lay out the facts that support each ground. “The judgment was unfair” goes nowhere. The court needs to know precisely what went wrong.
Attach a sworn affidavit based on personal knowledge. This is your main vehicle for putting facts in front of the judge. For a Craddock motion, the affidavit typically explains why you didn’t respond to the lawsuit, describes your defense, and addresses why a new trial won’t prejudice the other side.
Attach the supporting documents. Evidence of your address at the time, if you’re claiming you were never served. The emails, contracts, or records, if fraud is your basis. A description of what the evidence is and why you couldn’t have found it earlier, if newly discovered evidence is the ground.
File in the same court that entered the judgment. Filing fees for post-judgment motions generally run $35 to $50, though the exact amount varies by county — the clerk’s office can confirm. Texas requires electronic filing in most courts unless you qualify for an exemption.
You must serve a copy on the opposing party or their attorney under Rule 21a. If you filed through the state’s e-filing system and the other party’s email is on file, service happens automatically. Otherwise you can serve in person, by registered or first-class mail, by commercial delivery, by fax, or by email, and you must certify service in writing.
The Hearing
The court usually schedules a hearing where both sides argue the motion. For a Craddock motion, expect the judge to press you on exactly why you failed to respond. Judges have heard every excuse and are looking for specific, credible facts rather than general claims of confusion or a busy week.
The other side will argue the judgment should stand — that you were properly served, that you had actual knowledge, that your proposed defense lacks merit. Be ready to answer those points directly.
If the judge grants the motion, the court issues an order vacating the judgment. Depending on the case, that could mean a full trial is set, specific issues get re-litigated, or the case is dismissed. If the motion is denied, the original judgment stays in force.
If the 30 Days Are Already Gone
Once plenary power expires, the main remedy left is a bill of review. This is a separate lawsuit, not another motion. You file it in the same court that entered the original judgment and ask that court to reopen a final judgment on equitable grounds.
The evidentiary bar is much higher than for a timely motion to vacate. You generally must prove three things:
- A meritorious claim or defense that would likely change the outcome.
- That the judgment resulted from the opposing party’s fraud, an accident, or a wrongful act — not from your own negligence.
- That you were not at fault in failing to present your defense in the original proceeding. This is where most bills of review fail; if you ignored the lawsuit, the court will not grant relief.
The general limitations period for filing a bill of review is four years from the date of the original judgment. You trade time for difficulty.
A restricted appeal is a narrower alternative. If you did not participate in the trial court proceedings at all, you can file a restricted appeal within six months after the judgment was signed, but the error must appear on the face of the record.
For a pure typo in the written judgment — a clerical mistake that doesn’t match what the court actually decided — Rule 316 allows a judgment nunc pro tunc at any time. That covers transcription errors in recording the judgment, not mistakes in the judge’s legal reasoning. Wrong reasoning is an appeal issue.
Enforcement While the Motion Is Pending
Filing a motion to vacate does not automatically stop the other side from trying to collect. During the plenary power period the judgment isn’t technically final, but creditors don’t always wait, and you may need to take affirmative steps to prevent wage garnishment, bank levies, or property liens while your motion sits with the court.
If the motion is denied and you appeal, halting enforcement during the appeal generally requires a supersedeas bond, typically equal to the judgment amount plus estimated costs and interest, with caps in certain situations. If you can’t afford the full bond, you can ask the appellate court to reduce it or accept alternative security.
Appealing a Denied Motion
If the trial court denies your motion, you can appeal to the appropriate Texas court of appeals. Under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1, when a timely post-judgment motion has been filed, the notice of appeal is due 90 days after the judgment was signed — not 30 days from the denial. This trips people up, and missing it ends the case.
The appeal is limited to whether the trial court made a legal error. The appellate court reviews the record; it will not hear new evidence or retry the facts. For a default judgment, the Craddock standard frames the argument that the trial court abused its discretion in denying relief.