(a) Clerical Mistakes. Clerical mistakes in judgments, decrees, or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time on 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 such mistakes may be so corrected before the record on appeal is docketed in the appellate court, and thereafter while the appeal is pending may be so corrected with leave of the appellate court.
(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 a party's legal representative from a final judgment, decree, 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 or rehearing; (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) that the judgment or decree is void; or (5) that the judgment or decree has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment or decree upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment or decree should have prospective application. The motion shall be filed within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than 1 year after the judgment, decree, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision does not affect the finality of a judgment or decree 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, decree, order, or proceeding or to set aside a judgment or decree for fraud upon the 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 or decree shall be by motion as prescribed in these rules or by an independent action.
Florida Civil Procedure Rules Index
3 Case Citation(s)
Listed below are cases cited in the Florida Rules Decisions Reporter and other blog posts that reference Rule 1.540 Relief from Judgment, Decrees or Orders.
In this trip and fall case, trial court ordered parties to non-binding arbitration. Arbitrator ruled in favor of the Plaintiff. Defendant did not move for trial de novo within 20 days of order and Plaintiff moved trial court for entry of final judgment pursuant to FRCP 1.820(h), which was granted by trial court. Defendant then moved for relief from Final Judgment pursuant to FRCP 1.540(b), claiming that there was excusable neglect due to attorney's failure to place reminder on firm's "tickler system." Trial court found that this was not excusable neglect and denied Defendant's motion on July 16th. Read More
Even after judgment has been satisfied a Defendant can move to set aside the satisfaction and judgment using Fla. R. Civ. Pro. 1.540(b) to recapture a purported overpayment to the Plaintiff based on alleged fraud by the Defendant. The decision distinguishes between motions to set aside satisfaction brought by the Plaintiff versus the Defendant. Read More
In another mortgage foreclosure case, which was successfully argued by your author, the Bank obtained final summary judgment without notifying the defendant, or their counsel, of the summary judgment hearing. The defendant filed an emergency motion to set aside final judgment. The court found that the defendant had an inalienable due process right to notice of the summary judgment hearing pursuant to State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Lezcano, 34 Fla. L. Wkly. D2105a (Fla. 2d DCA Oct. 14, 2009) and Greene v. Siegle, 745 So.2d 411 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) and overturned the judgment pursuant to the court's authority under Rule 1.540(b), Fla. R. Civ. Pro. Read More
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Brian Willis
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Jason Baruch
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Brian and Jason provide legal services to local, national and international clients with business and real estate related legal issues in the Tampa Bay area and across Florida. We always appreciate case referrals from our local and out of state readers. Please contact us at the links above.
