a. In any proceeding to vacate, modify or reopen a final judgment that is commenced more than thirty days after its rendition, (1) proceeding by motion instead of by petition or by petition instead of by motion, or (2) failure to verify the petition, or (3) incorrect service of process or the required notice is waived if the opposing party appears in the proceeding but does not immediately object thereto; and such defects are waived by any party in default who had actual notice of the proceeding.
Rule 19.Vacation of Final Judgment
Rules for District Courts of Oklahoma · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceWaives certain procedural defects — motion versus petition, an unverified petition, or defective service — in a proceeding to vacate a judgment filed more than 30 days after it was rendered if the opposing party appears without objecting, while jurisdictional grounds are never waived by joinder with nonjurisdictional ones.
Full Text of Rule 19
b. In any proceeding to vacate, modify or reopen a judgment, whether by a motion, petition or application, jurisdictional grounds are not waived by being joined with nonjurisdictional grounds in the motion, petition or application or by raising nonjurisdictional defenses in an accompanying pleading.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 19 sets two waiver rules for proceedings to vacate, modify, or reopen a judgment. Filed more than 30 days after the judgment, certain procedural-form defects — proceeding by motion instead of petition or vice versa, an unverified petition, or incorrect service or notice — are waived if the opposing party appears without immediately objecting, and by any party in default who had actual notice of the proceeding. But jurisdictional grounds for vacating a judgment are not waived just because they are joined with nonjurisdictional grounds in the same motion, petition, application, or accompanying pleading — a protection that dovetails with Rule 3's own waiver rules for jurisdiction, service, and venue objections earlier in the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
I want to vacate a judgment more than 30 days after it was entered, but I used a motion instead of a petition. Is that fatal?
Not automatically. Rule 19 treats that procedural defect as waived if the opposing party appears in the proceeding without immediately objecting.
Does raising a jurisdictional defect alongside other grounds in my motion to vacate weaken it?
No. Rule 19 says jurisdictional grounds are not waived just because they are joined with nonjurisdictional grounds in the same motion, petition, or application.
What if the other side never showed up at all in the vacation proceeding?
Rule 19 still treats the procedural defects listed in the rule as waived by a defaulting party who had actual notice of the proceeding.
Source & verification. Rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
Rules for District Courts of Oklahoma, promulgated by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma
as an appendix to Chapter 2 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: oklahoma vacate judgment rulemotion to vacate judgment oklahomarule 19 rules for district courtsjurisdictional waiver vacation judgment oklahoma