Setting aside a Wyoming default judgment: one year, and four things to check in the file first

Wyoming follows the restyled federal rules closely, so the deadline is the familiar one: a year on the first three grounds, reasonable time on the rest.

Because the deadline is unremarkable, the useful work in a Wyoming default case is usually elsewhere — in whether Rule 55 was complied with before the judgment issued. Four requirements are checkable from the file, and a failure on any of them supports the argument that the judgment is void under Rule 60(b)(4), which carries no one-year problem at all.

The deadline

Wyo. R. Civ. P. 60(c)(1):

Timing. A motion under Rule 60(b) must be made within a reasonable time-and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) no more than a year after the entry of the judgment or order or the date of the proceeding.

Rule 60(c)(2): "The motion does not affect the judgment's finality or suspend its operation." Collection continues while the motion is pending unless you obtain a stay.

What survives outside the rule

Rule 60(d):

Other Powers to Grant Relief. This rule does not limit a court's power to:

(1) entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, order, or proceeding; (2) grant relief as provided by statute; or (3) set aside a judgment for fraud on the court.

Three preserved routes, none of them subject to the one year. (2) relief as provided by statute is worth remembering — where a statute governing the underlying claim supplies its own relief mechanism, Rule 60 does not displace it.

Rule 60(e) abolishes bills of review, bills in the nature of bills of review, and the writs of coram nobis, coram vobis and audita querela.

The four things to check

Rule 55(a):

Entering a Default. When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend, and that failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk must enter the party's default.

First: was the failure shown? The rule requires it be "shown by affidavit or otherwise". Look for that showing in the file.

Rule 55(b)(1):

By the Clerk. If the plaintiff's claim is for a sum certain or a sum that can be made certain by computation, the clerk — on the plaintiff's request, with an affidavit showing the amount due — must enter judgment for that amount and costs against a defendant who has been defaulted for not appearing and who is neither a minor nor an incompetent person.

Second: was the claim really for a sum certain? The clerk route is available only for a sum certain or one that can be made certain by computation. A claim requiring the court to assess anything — unliquidated damages, attorney fees on a discretionary basis, disputed interest — is not one the clerk could enter.

Third: was there an affidavit showing the amount due? It is a precondition to the clerk route, not a formality.

Rule 55(b)(2):

By the Court. In all other cases, the party must apply to the court for a default judgment. A default judgment may be entered against a minor or incompetent person only if represented by a guardian, guardian ad litem, trustee, conservator, or other like fiduciary who has appeared. If the party against whom a default judgment is sought has appeared personally or by a representative, that party or its representative must be served with written notice of the application at least 7 days before the hearing. The court may conduct hearings or make referrals — preserving any statutory right to a jury trial — when, to enter or effectuate judgment, it needs to:

(A) conduct an accounting;

Fourth: did you get seven days' notice? If you had appeared personally or by a representative — and appearing is a broader concept than filing an answer — you were owed 7 days' written notice of the application before the hearing.

Note that Wyoming's list of representatives for a minor or incompetent person is broader than most, including a trustee alongside the usual guardian, guardian ad litem and conservator.

Entry of default versus judgment

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

Setting Aside a Default or a Default Judgment. — The court may set aside an entry of default for good cause, and it may set aside a final default judgment under Rule 60(b).

Establish which one exists before drafting. Good cause carries no enumerated grounds and no deadline, and it is a materially easier motion.

Rule 55(d) bars a default judgment against the state, its officers or agencies unless the claimant establishes a claim or right to relief by evidence that satisfies the court.

If you have not been defaulted yet

See responding to a Wyoming complaint for the deadline and what the answer must contain.

How Wyoming compares

A short checklist

1. Find the entry date and count one year for mistake, newly discovered evidence and fraud.
2. Check whether a judgment exists or only an entry of default — good cause has no deadline.
3. Look for the showing that you failed to plead or defend, by affidavit or otherwise.
4. Test the sum-certain characterization if the clerk entered judgment.
5. Look for the affidavit showing the amount due.
6. Check the 7 days' notice if you had appeared personally or by a representative.
7. Where Rule 55 was not followed, argue the judgment is void under 60(b)(4) — no one-year limit applies.
8. Check whether a statute supplies its own relief, which Rule 60(d)(2) preserves.
9. Get a stay separately. The motion does not suspend the judgment.

Where these rules live

• Wyo. R. Civ. P. 55 — Default; default judgment
• Wyo. R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from a judgment or order

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.