Rule 3.213.Postjudgment Motions and Enforcement
Subchapter 3.200 — Domestic Relations Actions · Last verified September 5, 2026
Full Text of Rule 3.213
Plain-English Summary
MCR 3.213 is one sentence long, and it works by pointing somewhere else. A motion filed after judgment in a domestic relations action runs on the general motion rule, MCR 2.119, the same rule that governs motion practice in ordinary civil cases.
A rule that routes rather than regulates
The subchapter around this rule is full of procedure written for domestic relations cases alone: service requirements built for these files, hearing clocks, content requirements for judgments, an office that enforces after entry. A reader working through it might expect postjudgment motions to get the same bespoke treatment, with their own notice period and their own briefing schedule. MCR 3.213 says they do not. The mechanics of a postjudgment motion in one of these cases come from MCR 2.119: how the motion is framed, what has to be served with it, how a response works, and how the court disposes of it.
Because the rule operates as a pointer, its substance is not fixed in its own words. Whatever MCR 2.119 requires at any given moment is what a postjudgment domestic relations motion requires. A change to the general motion rule reaches domestic relations practice through this single sentence, without any amendment to the domestic relations subchapter itself.
What the rule leaves out
The rule creates no exception, no carve-out, and no extra step. It sets no deadline for filing a postjudgment motion. It describes no grounds for relief and identifies no category of order that may or may not be revisited after judgment. Its heading also speaks of enforcement, but the sentence beneath the heading addresses motions and nothing else, so a reader looking for enforcement procedure will not find it in this rule.
The rule uses the phrase domestic relations actions without defining it, and it does not sort those motions by subject matter. Nothing in the text gives one kind of postjudgment request a different route from another. That flatness is the point: after judgment, the motion practice is ordinary motion practice, and a practitioner who knows MCR 2.119 already knows the procedure this rule supplies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which rule governs postjudgment motions in a Michigan domestic relations case?
MCR 2.119. That is the whole of MCR 3.213: postjudgment motions in domestic relations actions are governed by the general civil motion rule rather than by a procedure written for these cases alone.
Does MCR 3.213 create a special procedure for postjudgment motions?
No. The rule contains no exception and no additional requirement. It routes the motion to MCR 2.119 and stops there, which means the form of the motion, the service, and the response follow the general rule.
Does MCR 3.213 set a deadline for filing a postjudgment motion?
No. The rule states no time limit of its own. Any timing requirement comes from MCR 2.119 or from another source, because this rule adds nothing to the general motion procedure.
Does MCR 3.213 say anything about enforcing a domestic relations judgment?
Its heading mentions enforcement, but the text does not. The single sentence addresses postjudgment motions and directs them to MCR 2.119, so a reader looking for enforcement procedure will need to look outside this rule.
Does the rule treat custody, parenting time, and support motions differently?
No. The rule does not sort postjudgment motions by subject matter or limit itself to any category of request. It speaks of postjudgment motions in domestic relations actions as a single group, all governed by MCR 2.119.