Setting aside a Missouri default judgment: the rule defines "good cause" in your favor

Most states leave "good cause" to the case law. Missouri writes the definition into the rule, and the definition is unusually generous:

"Good cause" includes a mistake or conduct that is not intentionally or recklessly designed to impede the judicial process.

Read that as a test and it inverts the usual question. You are not asked to prove your neglect was excusable. The other side has to confront conduct that was intentional or reckless — and ordinary carelessness is not that.

The rule

Mo. R. Civ. P. 74.05(d):

When Set Aside. Upon motion stating facts constituting a meritorious defense and for good cause shown, an interlocutory order of default or a default judgment may be set aside. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time not to exceed one year after the entry of the default judgment. "Good cause" includes a mistake or conduct that is not intentionally or recklessly designed to impede the judicial process. An order setting aside an interlocutory order of default or a default judgment may be conditioned on such terms as are just, including a requirement that the party in default pay reasonable attorney fees and expenses incurred as a result of the default by the party who requested the default. A motion filed under this Rule 74.05(d), even if filed within 30 days after judgment, is an independent action and not an authorized after-trial motion subject to Rule 78.04, 78.06, or 81.05.

Everything you need is in that one subdivision:

Facts, not assertions

"Upon motion stating facts constituting a meritorious defense" — the rule asks for facts. A motion saying you have a good defense, without setting out what it is, does not comply. Say what happened, and why it defeats the claim.

That pairs with the good-cause definition: the motion has two halves, and both belong in it.

The independent-action point

The last sentence solves a problem that trips up defendants in other states:

A motion filed under this Rule 74.05(d), even if filed within 30 days after judgment, is an independent action and not an authorized after-trial motion subject to Rule 78.04, 78.06, or 81.05.

In Missouri, an after-trial motion runs on tight deadlines and can affect when the judgment becomes final and when an appeal must be taken. A 74.05(d) motion is expressly not one of those — even if you file it in the first thirty days.

Two consequences. Filing it does not extend or restart the appeal clock, so if you also intend to appeal you must protect that separately. And it does not have to be filed inside the thirty days to be considered: the deadline is the one-year outer limit in the same subdivision.

Expect to pay something

An order setting aside an interlocutory order of default or a default judgment may be conditioned on such terms as are just, including a requirement that the party in default pay reasonable attorney fees and expenses incurred as a result of the default by the party who requested the default.

Offering this in the motion is usually the right move. It costs far less than the judgment, and it removes the prejudice argument.

There may not have been an interlocutory order at all

Rule 74.05(a):

Entry of Default Judgment. When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules, upon proof of damages or entitlement to other relief, a judgment may be entered against the defaulting party. The entry of an interlocutory order of default is not a condition precedent to the entry of a default judgment.

Missouri does not require the two-step sequence most states use. There is no clerk route and no requirement of a preliminary entry — a default judgment can issue directly, "upon proof of damages or entitlement to other relief."

That phrase is worth holding onto. Even in default, the plaintiff had to prove damages or entitlement. If the file shows no such proof, that is a defect in the judgment quite apart from your reasons for missing the deadline.

Rule 74.05(b) covers the optional interlocutory route and adds: "Any party may demand a jury to assess damages. If a jury is not demanded, the court shall assess any damages."

Rule 74.05(c): "A default judgment may include an award of damages, other relief, or both."

The other route: Rule 74.06

Where the one year has run, or the problem is not really about why you defaulted, Rule 74.06(b) applies:

Excusable Neglect—Fraud—Irregular, Void, or Satisfied Judgment. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment or order for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (3) the judgment is irregular; (4) the judgment is void; or (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment remain in force.

Five grounds, and two features worth noting.

Ground (3), "the judgment is irregular", has no federal counterpart. It reaches a judgment entered contrary to the proper course of procedure — which is a different and often easier argument than showing the judgment is void.

And Missouri has no catch-all. There is no "any other reason justifying relief" in Rule 74.06(b), so the five grounds have to do all the work.

Rule 74.06(c) sets the timing:

A motion under subdivision (b) does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time and for reasons (1) and (2) and (3) of subdivision (b) not more than one year after the judgment or order was entered. The motion and a notice of a time and place for hearing on the motion shall be served upon the parties to the judgment pursuant to Rule 54.

Note that Missouri puts irregularity inside the one-year cap, which several states do not.

And note the service requirement: the motion and a notice of the time and place for hearing must be served under Rule 54 — service of process rules, not ordinary motion service.

Rule 74.06(a) keeps clerical corrections available "at any time".

Which rule do you want?

Where both fit, 74.05(d) is usually the better motion: its good-cause definition is stated in your favor, and it does not require you to characterize the judgment as irregular or void.

If you have not been defaulted yet

Missouri gives thirty days and lets you file a motion and answer at the same time — see responding to a Missouri petition and the Missouri motion to dismiss.

How Missouri compares

A short checklist

1. Count one year from entry — and file within a reasonable time inside it.
2. State the facts of your defense, not the conclusion that you have one.
3. Use the rule's own definition of good cause. You need conduct that was not intentional or reckless, not conduct that was blameless.
4. Offer to pay the other side's fees and expenses caused by the default.
5. Do not treat 74.05(d) as an after-trial motion. It is an independent action, and it will not protect an appeal deadline.
6. Check whether damages were proved. Rule 74.05(a) required proof of damages or entitlement.
7. If a year has passed, look at 74.06(b)(3) and (4) — irregular or void — and note there is no catch-all.
8. Serve a 74.06 motion under Rule 54, together with notice of the hearing.

Where these rules live

• Mo. R. Civ. P. 74.05 — Entry of Default Judgment
• Mo. R. Civ. P. 74.06 — Relief From Judgment or Order
• Mo. R. Civ. P. 55.27 — Defenses and Objections

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what makes a judgment irregular or a defense meritorious is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.