When may a Texas defendant seek a new trial after judgment on citation by publication?

Obtain the judgment and its signing date and establish actual service by publication.

Check whether the defendant appeared personally or through a self-selected attorney.

Prepare the supported good-cause petition, citation to adversely interested parties and any separate request to suspend execution.

1. Obtain the judgment and its signing date and establish actual service by publication.
2. Rule 329(a)’s two-year filing limit runs after judgment signing. It is not two years after discovery of the judgment. Rule 329(d) and Rule 306a(7) separately address a qualifying motion filed more than thirty days after signing, treating the filing date as signing for the stated later periods. That treatment does not rewrite the original two-year petition limit.
3. Read the actual order and confirm every stated condition.
4. Complete the act required by the rule, not merely a date calculation.

Rule 4 excludes the event and counts intermediate calendar days in these periods longer than five days, with its final Saturday, Sunday or legal-holiday treatment. Establish the actual calendar and procedural branch. This guide does not calculate a date or automatically grant additional time.

The isolated two-year preset does not establish publication service, qualifying nonappearance, good cause, affidavit, citation or execution suspension. This guide supplies the complete procedure without a computed date or paid calculation record.

The specified nonappearance

Rule 329 applies only where the publication-served defendant did not appear in person or by an attorney of the defendant’s own selection. A different default or appearance must be assessed under its own procedure.

Good cause, affidavit and citation

The petition must show good cause, be supported by affidavit and be filed within the stated two years. Adversely interested parties must be cited. The court’s authority to grant relief is not an automatic favorable result.

Execution is separate

Rule 329(b) does not suspend execution merely because the petition was filed. It states separate bond, amount, approval and performance conditions. Its historical Appellate Rule 47 reference must be read with current supersedeas provisions, not current Rule 47 on opinions.

A prior execution sale

Under Rule 329(c), where property was sold under judgment and execution before suspension, the defendant does not recover the sold property through this provision but has judgment against the plaintiff for sale proceeds.

Later postjudgment periods

For the qualifying motion filed more than thirty days after signing, Rule 329(d) invokes Rule 306a(7). The specified later periods use filing as if it were signing. This is distinct from ordinary Rule 306a(4) late-notice proof.

• This guide does not establish the actual pleadings, service, calendar, legal entitlement or terms of a signed order.
• The current consolidation date does not decide historical applicability of an individual amendment.

• Obtain the judgment and its signing date and establish actual service by publication.
• Check whether the defendant appeared personally or through a self-selected attorney.
• Prepare the supported good-cause petition, citation to adversely interested parties and any separate request to suspend execution.
• Rule 329 applies only where the publication-served defendant did not appear in person or by an attorney of the defendant’s own selection. A different default or appearance must be assessed under its own procedure.
• The petition must show good cause, be supported by affidavit and be filed within the stated two years. Adversely interested parties must be cited. The court’s authority to grant relief is not an automatic favorable result.
• Rule 329(b) does not suspend execution merely because the petition was filed. It states separate bond, amount, approval and performance conditions. Its historical Appellate Rule 47 reference must be read with current supersedeas provisions, not current Rule 47 on opinions.
• Under Rule 329(c), where property was sold under judgment and execution before suspension, the defendant does not recover the sold property through this provision but has judgment against the plaintiff for sale proceeds.
• For the qualifying motion filed more than thirty days after signing, Rule 329(d) invokes Rule 306a(7). The specified later periods use filing as if it were signing. This is distinct from ordinary Rule 306a(4) late-notice proof.
• File the actual good-cause petition supported by affidavit and arrange citation of adversely interested parties. Separately establish any required good and sufficient execution bond, payable to the plaintiff, its applicable amount, clerk approval and prescribed conditions. Preserve actual suspension and any execution sale. Keep the actual document, clerk filing, required notice or service and the court record. Rule 21(f)(5) ordinarily requires electronic filing before midnight in the court’s time zone. Service under Rule 21a is separate. A filed motion does not prove its allegations or grant relief.