Setting aside a Utah default judgment: ninety days, not one year

Almost every state that copied the federal rules kept the one-year outer limit for the first three grounds of relief from judgment. Utah did not.

Rule 60(c) gives you ninety days. It is among the shortest such deadlines in the country, and it is the single most important thing to know about undoing a Utah judgment. (Iowa is tighter still for defaults specifically — sixty days — but Utah's ninety applies to relief from any judgment, not only a default.)

Ninety days

Utah R. Civ. P. 60(c):

Timing and effect of the motion. A motion under paragraph (b) must be filed within a reasonable time and for reasons in paragraph (b)(1), (2), or (3), not more than 90 days after entry of the judgment or order or, if there is no judgment or order, from the date of the proceeding. The motion does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation.

Ninety days runs from entry of the judgment or order — not from the day you learned about it. A defendant who discovers a Utah default judgment through a garnishment four months later has already lost grounds (1), (2) and (3).

That is stricter than it first looks. Nevada and Arizona both allow six months, and both run the clock from the later of entry and notice — so a defendant who never received notice keeps the time. Utah starts at entry regardless.

That is why the remaining grounds matter so much here, and why the first question in a late Utah case is usually whether the judgment is void rather than whether the neglect was excusable.

And as elsewhere, the motion "does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation" — collection continues unless you obtain a stay.

The six grounds

Rule 60(b):

On motion and upon just terms, the court may relieve a party or its legal representative from a judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons:

(1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether previously called intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an opposing party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason that justifies relief.

Utah keeps the catch-all at (6), and because of the 90-day cap it does more work here than in most states — though it cannot be used simply to escape the deadline on a ground that really belongs in (1).

Note that (3) expressly covers both intrinsic and extrinsic fraud — "whether previously called intrinsic or extrinsic" — closing a distinction that used to matter.

Rule 60(d) preserves two routes outside the rule:

Other power to grant relief. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action:

(1) to relieve a party from a judgment, order, or proceeding; or (2) to set aside a judgment for fraud upon the court.

Fraud upon the court is separate from ground (3) and carries no 90-day limit.

Entry of default is a different, easier question

Utah R. Civ. P. 55(c):

Setting aside default. For good cause shown the court may set aside an entry of default and, if a judgment by default has been entered, may likewise set it aside in accordance with Rule 60(b).

So if the clerk has entered your default under Rule 55(a) but no judgment has followed, you are in much better shape — good cause, and no ninety-day cap. Move before the judgment issues.

Check how the judgment was obtained

Utah's clerk-entered default route has four conditions, and one of them is a genuine safeguard in debt cases.

Rule 55(b)(1):

By the clerk. When the plaintiff's claim against a defendant is for a sum certain, upon request of the plaintiff the clerk shall enter judgment for the amount claimed and costs against the defendant if:

(A) the default of the defendant is for failure to appear; (B) the defendant is not an infant or incompetent person; (C) the defendant has been personally served pursuant to Rule 4(d)(1); and (D) the plaintiff, through a verified complaint, an affidavit, or an unsworn declaration as described in Title 78B, Chapter 18a, Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act, submitted in support of the default judgment, sets forth facts necessary to establish the amount of the claim, after deducting all credits to which the defendant is entitled, and verifies the amount is warranted by information in the plaintiff's possession.

Three of these are worth checking against the file:

(C) personal service. The clerk route requires personal service under Rule 4(d)(1). A judgment entered by the clerk after service by mail or publication did not meet the rule.

(D) credits deducted. The supporting document must establish the amount "after deducting all credits to which the defendant is entitled" — so a claimed balance that ignores payments does not comply.

(D) verification from the plaintiff's own records. The plaintiff must verify "the amount is warranted by information in the plaintiff's possession." In an assigned-debt case, that is a real requirement and not always satisfied.

Anything outside those conditions belongs to the court under Rule 55(b)(2), where the court "may conduct such hearings or order such references as it deems necessary and proper" to determine damages or establish the truth of an averment.

Rule 55(e) bars a default judgment against the state or its officers and agencies "unless the claimant establishes his claim or right to relief by evidence satisfactory to the court."

And Rule 55(d) ends with the same limit other states use: "In all cases a judgment by default is subject to the limitations of Rule 54(c)" — a default cannot give more, or something different, than the complaint demanded.

Clerical mistakes are not on the clock

Rule 60(a):

Clerical mistakes. The court may correct a clerical mistake or a mistake arising from oversight or omission whenever one is found in a judgment, order, or other part of the record. The court may do so on motion or on its own, with or without notice. After a notice of appeal has been filed and while the appeal is pending, the mistake may be corrected only with leave of the appellate court.

"Whenever one is found" — no deadline. If the problem is a wrong figure or a misnamed party rather than a wrong outcome, this is the route, and the ninety days does not apply.

If you have not been defaulted yet

Respond rather than seeking relief later — the deadlines afterwards are far shorter than the time you have now. See responding to a Utah complaint.

Once the case is joined, Utah front-loads disclosure and ties discovery to the damages claimed. See Utah initial disclosures and the Utah statement of discovery issues.

How Utah compares

A short checklist

1. Find the entry date immediately. Ninety days is the whole game on grounds (1), (2) and (3).
2. Check whether a judgment exists or only an entry of default. Good cause and no deadline is a much better position.
3. If more than ninety days have passed, look at (4), (5) and (6) — void, satisfied or no longer equitable, and the catch-all.
4. Test the service. A clerk-entered judgment requires personal service under Rule 4(d)(1).
5. Test the amount. The supporting affidavit must deduct all credits and verify the figure from the plaintiff's own records.
6. Compare the judgment to the complaint. Rule 54(c) limits what a default can award.
7. Use Rule 60(a) for a clerical error — there is no time limit on that.
8. Ask for a stay separately. The motion does not suspend enforcement.

Where these rules live

• Utah R. Civ. P. 55 — Default
• Utah R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from judgment or order
• Utah R. Civ. P. 6 — Time

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what amounts to good cause or excusable neglect is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.