When must I move to set aside an Illinois final judgment under Section 2-1301(e)?

Obtain the entered order and independently establish that it is final.

Use the entry date, not the date you learned of the judgment or a hearing date.

Identify whether the request concerns an earlier nonfinal default or the publication-service branch in subsection (g).

1. Obtain the entered order and independently establish that it is final.
2. Exclude final judgment entry and count 30 calendar days. The nonfinal-default limb permits relief before final order or judgment and supplies no separate thirty-day starting event.
3. Check the final weekend, statutory holiday and the proper court’s actual calendar.
4. File the motion identifying the final order and requested relief. Preserve the court file mark and the actual ruling. Relief remains within the court’s discretion.

Section 1.11 excludes a final Saturday, Sunday or statutory holiday and consecutive excluded days. Section 17(a) of the Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act includes Pulaski Day, Good Friday and the general election for members of the House of Representatives. Check proclamations, the proper court’s actual calendar and clerk access separately. The bundled Illinois calendar covers 2026 and 2027.

Fictitious example

Use the ordinary Section 2-1301(e) final-judgment motion period. Establish finality and the actual entry date. This does not decide entitlement to vacatur. Fictitious statutory event, independently established under the precise scope stated in this guide. Use the ordinary Section 2-1301(e) final-judgment motion period. Establish finality and the actual entry date. This does not decide entitlement to vacatur.

Fictitious final judgment. This computes timely motion filing, not whether the court grants relief or whether another party’s judgment remains effective.

Timeliness does not establish successful relief

Subsection (e) permits the court to set aside the final order or judgment on reasonable terms and conditions. The computed date does not determine whether the grounds justify relief.

A nonfinal default uses a different limb

The court may set aside a default before final order or judgment in its discretion. Do not assume every default entry already starts the final-judgment thirty days.

Joint judgments can be addressed by fewer parties

Subsection (f) allows the joint final order or judgment to be set aside as to fewer than all parties. The judgment can remain effective against other parties.

Publication service has distinct qualifications

Subsection (g) provides a separate procedure for the stated publication-service circumstances. Its ninety-day written-notice or one-year judgment timing must not replace the ordinary (e) clock without its prerequisites.

A later petition requires separate analysis

Section 2-1401 addresses relief after thirty days and includes special grounds, excluded time and void-order protections. Its ordinary two-year interval is not an extension automatically added to this motion.

• This calculation does not determine whether relief is available or whether the facts satisfy the statute.
• A current statutory edition does not establish the law for every historical claim. Preserve the applicable edition and actual orders.

• Obtain the entered order and independently establish that it is final.
• Use the entry date, not the date you learned of the judgment or a hearing date.
• Identify whether the request concerns an earlier nonfinal default or the publication-service branch in subsection (g).
• Subsection (e) permits the court to set aside the final order or judgment on reasonable terms and conditions. The computed date does not determine whether the grounds justify relief.
• The court may set aside a default before final order or judgment in its discretion. Do not assume every default entry already starts the final-judgment thirty days.
• Subsection (f) allows the joint final order or judgment to be set aside as to fewer than all parties. The judgment can remain effective against other parties.
• Subsection (g) provides a separate procedure for the stated publication-service circumstances. Its ninety-day written-notice or one-year judgment timing must not replace the ordinary (e) clock without its prerequisites.
• Section 2-1401 addresses relief after thirty days and includes special grounds, excluded time and void-order protections. Its ordinary two-year interval is not an extension automatically added to this motion.
• File the motion identifying the final order and requested relief. Preserve the court file mark and the actual ruling. Relief remains within the court’s discretion. File with the proper clerk in the required format. Rule 9 ordinarily requires civil electronic filing, subject to its exceptions and exemptions. Rule 9(f) ordinarily requires submission before midnight in the court time zone unless a statute, rule or actual order specifies a different time. A submission on a closed clerk day ordinarily receives the next open-day stamp. Preserve the actual electronic file mark, receipt and any filing-relief order. Filing and service are distinct acts.