Short answer. The court holds a hearing after the answer is filed or the period to file it expires. If it finds the petition's allegations untrue, it dismisses the petition; if true, it sets aside the judgment and proceeds as if a timely motion for new trial had been granted.

What the law says

After the filing of the answer or the expiration of the period therefor, the court shall hear the petition and if after such hearing, it finds that the allegations thereof are not true, the petition shall be dismissed; but if it finds said allegations to be true, it shall set aside the judgment or final order or other proceeding complained of upon such terms as may be just. Thereafter the case shall stand as if such judgment, final order or other proceeding had never been rendered, issued or taken. The court shall then proceed to hear and determine the case as if a timely motion for a new trial or reconsideration had been granted by it.

Rule 38, Section 6 — Proceedings after answer is filed. Read the full provision →

A hearing follows the answer

After the answer to the petition has been filed, or after the period allowed for filing it has expired without an answer, the court proceeds to hear the petition. This means the matter is not simply decided on the papers alone; the parties get an actual hearing on whether the grounds raised in the petition hold up. This gives both sides a chance to actually present their positions on whether the grounds for relief are real, rather than leaving the outcome to depend solely on the pleadings filed. The hearing goes forward even if the opposing party never files an answer at all, so a petitioner cannot be left waiting indefinitely simply because the other side declines to respond.

Two outcomes, depending on what the hearing shows

If the hearing reveals that the allegations of the petition are not true, the petition is dismissed and the original judgment or order remains in force. If, on the other hand, the allegations are found to be true, the court sets aside the judgment, final order, or other proceeding complained of, upon such terms as may be just, and from that point the case stands as if that judgment, order, or proceeding had never been rendered, issued, or taken at all.

What happens once the judgment is set aside

Once the earlier judgment is set aside, the court does not simply leave the case in limbo. It proceeds to hear and determine the case as if a timely motion for a new trial or reconsideration had already been granted, effectively picking up the case from that point and moving it forward under the normal rules. In practical terms, the petitioner is put back in essentially the same position they would have been in had they timely moved for a new trial in the original case. This is why a petition for relief from judgment is sometimes described as a last-chance substitute for a motion for new trial, available only where the ordinary remedy was itself lost through fraud, accident, mistake, or excusable negligence.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.