(a) Clerical Mistakes. Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time of its own initiative or on the motion of any party and after such notice, if any, as the court orders. During the pendency of an appeal, leave to correct the mistake must be obtained from the appellate court. The ending of a term of court or departure from the circuit shall not operate to deprive the trial judge of jurisdiction to correct such mistakes. A party filing a written motion under this rule shall provide a copy of the motion to the judge within ten (10) days after the filing of the motion.
Rule 60.Relief from judgment or order
Group VII: Judgment · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 60 lets a court fix clerical mistakes at any time and, on five specific grounds, relieve a party from a final judgment or order, generally within a reasonable time and no more than one year for mistake, newly discovered evidence, or fraud, while abolishing the old common-law writs that once served the same purpose.
Full Text of Rule 60
(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud, etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final 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, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse 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 otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application.
The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than one year after the judgment, order or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision (b) does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, order, or proceeding, or to set aside a judgment for fraud upon the court. During the pendency of an appeal, leave to make the motion must be obtained from the appellate court. Writs of coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review and bills in the nature of a bill of review, are abolished, and the procedure for obtaining any relief from a judgment shall be by motion as prescribed in these rules or by an independent action.
Rule. The last sentence of 60(a) was added permitting the trial judge to correct clerical errors even after departure from the circuit. Rule 60(b) deletes subsection (6) of the Federal Rule which permits relief for "any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment." In the Federal Rule subsection
(6) has created ambiguity about what is included.
Finally, Rule 60(b) provides, leave to make the motion need not be obtained from any appellate court except during such time as an appeal from the judgment is actually before the appellate court. This permits the motion to be made before the trial court. The United States Supreme Court approved a similar result in Standard Oil Co. v. U.S., 429 U.S. 17, 97 S.Ct. 31, 50 L.Ed.2d 21 (1976). This change will not, except in civil actions, affect S.C. Supreme Court Rule 24, Motions for New Trial upon Afterdiscovered Evidence, which now requires leave by the Supreme Court before the motion can be made in the trial court.
Rule 60(b) is substantially the same as Code § 15-27-130. There are two differences. First, existing State law provides for relief from a "judgment taken against him through his mistake." Rule 60(b) deletes "his" and thus there may be a motion for relief from other mistakes. Second, the statute provides that the relief must be sought within one year. This Rule retains the one year limitation for Rule 60(b)(1)-(3) for mistake, inadvertence, excusable neglect, newly-discovered evidence, and fraud; but permits relief under Rule 60(b)(4) and (5) after one year, but within a "reasonable time" when the judgment is void or the judgment has been satisfied, avoiding the necessity of bringing a new action to set aside the judgment in such cases after one year.
Notes
Note: This Rule 60 is drawn from the Federal Rule. There are minor changes in the language of the Federal
Editor's Note: Effective September 1, 1990, the Supreme Court Rules were repealed by the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules.
Note to 1994 Amendment: The amendment to Rule 60(a) and (b) clarifies that leave of the appellate court is necessary to correct a clerical mistake or to make a motion to set aside an order of judgment while the appeal is pending. An appeal is pending from the time the notice of appeal is served until the issuance of the remittitur. See Rules 203, 204 and 221(b), SCACR.
Note to 1998 Amendment: This amendment adds a requirement to Rule 60(a) that a copy of any written motion be provided to the judge. It is intended to help insure that the judge is promptly notified that the motion has been filed.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 60 splits into two distinct kinds of fixes. Subsection (a) handles pure clerical mistakes, slips of the pen or omissions in a judgment, order, or the record, that do not reflect any real dispute about the merits. The court can correct those on its own or on a party's motion, at any time, with whatever notice the court thinks appropriate. Once an appeal is pending, though, the trial court needs the appellate court's permission before making even that kind of correction, and whoever files the motion must get a copy to the judge within 10 days.
Subsection (b) is the substantive relief-from-judgment provision, and it is worth pausing on how South Carolina's version differs from the federal rule many practitioners know. The federal rule lists six grounds, ending in a catch-all for any other reason justifying relief. South Carolina's Rule 60(b) has only five: mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence that could not have been found in time to support a Rule 59(b) new trial motion; fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct by an adverse party; a judgment that is void; and a judgment that has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or one built on a prior judgment that was later reversed or vacated, or one that would be inequitable to keep applying going forward. There is no open-ended sixth ground here, which means a party looking for relief on some basis outside those five categories has to look elsewhere, often to the rule's preserved independent action for fraud on the court.
Timing differs by ground. For mistake, newly discovered evidence, and fraud, the motion must come within a reasonable time and never more than one year after the judgment or order was entered. For a void judgment or one that has been satisfied or otherwise overtaken by events, there is no one-year ceiling, only the reasonable-time requirement, since a party should not have to live forever with a judgment nobody can lawfully enforce or one that has already been paid. Filing the motion does not itself pause the judgment's finality or its operation, and once an appeal is pending, a party needs leave from the appellate court before moving at all. The rule also does away with older vehicles that used to accomplish similar ends, coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review, folding all of that relief into the motion procedure the rule itself provides.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 60(b) motion in South Carolina?
It is a motion asking the court for relief from a final judgment or order on one of five specific grounds: mistake or excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud or misconduct by the other side, a void judgment, or a judgment that has been satisfied or otherwise no longer deserves prospective effect.
Does South Carolina's Rule 60(b) match the federal rule exactly?
No. The federal rule has six grounds, including a catch-all for any other reason justifying relief. South Carolina deliberately dropped that catch-all, leaving only the five grounds listed in the rule.
How long do I have to file a motion for relief from judgment in South Carolina?
For mistake, newly discovered evidence, or fraud, no more than one year after the judgment or order was entered, and always within a reasonable time even inside that year. For a void judgment or one already satisfied, there is no one-year cap, just a reasonable-time requirement.
Can I still vacate a judgment in South Carolina after more than a year has passed?
Only under the grounds that a judgment is void or has been satisfied, released, discharged, or otherwise no longer equitable to enforce. Mistake, newly discovered evidence, and fraud grounds are capped at one year.
Does filing a Rule 60(b) motion stop the judgment from being enforced?
No. The rule states the motion does not affect the judgment's finality or suspend its operation while it is pending.
What if the judgment was fraudulently obtained but I am outside the one-year window?
Rule 60(b) preserves the court's power to entertain an independent action to set aside a judgment for fraud on the court, separate from a motion under this rule.
Are old remedies like coram nobis still available in South Carolina civil cases?
No. Rule 60(b) expressly abolishes writs of coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review, channeling all such relief through the motion procedure the rule itself sets out.
Can I fix a clerical error in a judgment without meeting Rule 60(b)'s deadlines?
Yes. Rule 60(a) lets the court correct clerical mistakes and errors from oversight or omission at any time, on its own initiative or a party's motion, separate from the time limits that govern substantive relief under Rule 60(b).
Source & verification. Rule text, official Notes, and amendment
history are reproduced verbatim from the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure,
adopted by the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: 60(b) motion South Carolinarelief from judgment South Carolinavacate a judgment South Carolinaclerical mistake correction SCRule 60 SCRCP groundsset aside judgment South Carolina