Short answer. Two deadlines apply at once: the petition must be filed within sixty days after you learn of the judgment, final order, or proceeding, and in no case more than six months after the judgment or final order was entered. Miss either limit and relief under Rule 38 is no longer available.
What the law says
filed within sixty days after the petitioner learns of the judgment, final order, or other proceeding to be set aside, and not more than six months after such judgment or final order was entered
Rule 38, Section 3 — Time for filing petition; contents and verification. Read the full provision →
What the law says
accompanied with affidavits showing the fraud, accident, mistake, or excusable negligence relied upon, and the facts constituting the petitioner's good and substantial cause of action or defense
Rule 38, Section 3 — Time for filing petition; contents and verification. Read the full provision →
Two periods, both mandatory
Rule 38, Section 3 imposes a double limit. The petition must be filed within sixty days after the petitioner learns of the judgment, final order, or other proceeding to be set aside, and not more than six months after such judgment or final order was entered. These are not alternatives; a petition must satisfy both. Sixty days are counted from knowledge — the day you actually learned of the judgment — while six months are counted from entry, an official act recorded by the clerk of court whether or not you knew of it.
Why the six-month ceiling bites
The sixty-day period protects the diligent party who was kept in the dark; the six-month ceiling protects the stability of judgments. Their interplay is harsh. A party who learns of a judgment seven months after its entry is already out of time, even though the sixty days from learning have barely begun. Conversely, a party who learned of the judgment early cannot wait out the six months — the sixty days from learning expire first. Whichever period ends sooner ends the remedy, which is why the date of entry must be verified with the clerk of court, not assumed.
Verification and affidavits are part of the deadline
Filing a bare petition on day fifty-nine does not comply. The section requires the petition to be verified and accompanied with affidavits showing the fraud, accident, mistake, or excusable negligence relied upon, and the facts constituting the petitioner's good and substantial cause of action or defense. The affidavits are substantive, not decorative: one must establish why the judgment went against you without your fault, the other that you have a real claim or defence worth reopening the case for. Preparing them takes time, so gather them alongside the petition, not after it is filed.
Act on both dates at once
Treat this remedy as one with a fuse already lit. Establish two dates immediately: the day you first learned of the judgment — and keep whatever proves it, whether a message, a sheriff's notice, or a demand letter — and the day the judgment was entered, which the clerk of court can certify. From those two dates the arithmetic is mechanical, and a lawyer can tell you quickly whether Rule 38 is still open or whether the conversation must turn to other remedies. Delay is the one mistake this rule does not forgive.