Setting Aside A Judgment
Ohio Civ.R. 60 — three things, all of them, together
A judgment already entered can sometimes be set aside, and the route is a motion for relief from judgment. The Supreme Court of Ohio laid out what such a motion has to show in a case from 1976, and courts have been applying the same three part test ever since.
- A meritorious defence or claim to present if relief is granted.
- Entitlement to relief under one of the grounds the rule states.
- A motion made within a reasonable time, and where the ground is one of the first three, not more than one year after the judgment was entered.
Reasonable time and one year are two separate requirements rather than one. Where the ground carries the one year limit, a motion is still capable of being too late inside the year, because reasonable time applies on its own. The year is a ceiling, not a permission.
| The element | What satisfies it |
|---|---|
| A meritorious defence | Alleged, not proved |
| A ground under the rule | One of the grounds the rule lists |
| Timing | A reasonable time, and within one year where the ground is one of the first three |
| Any two of the three | Not enough |
The grounds the rule lists, which of them carry the one year limit and which do not, what a court weighs in deciding whether the time was reasonable, and the separate question of a judgment that is void rather than voidable are in the rule and in the cases applying it, and are not reproduced here. Nothing on this page says whether a particular judgment can be set aside. A motion under this rule is a court filing with a form and a standard, and legal aid organisations in Ohio and a licensed Ohio attorney are who prepare one.
Sources for this section (2)
- Ohio Civ.R. 60 — Relief from a judgment or order
- GTE Automatic Elec. v. ARC Industries, 47 Ohio St.2d 146 (1976) — The three things a motion for relief from judgment has to show
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.