If you win your case you may have a judgment for the payment of money. Basically it is a piece of paper that says X shall pay Y a certain amount of money. Unfortunately judgments do not enforce themselves. Unless there is insurance coverage or a very substantial company involved, it is unlikely a judgment will simply be paid. While a judgment represents a declaration of rights and is the end result of the litigation process, without enforcement the judgment may be worthless and perhaps not even suitable for framing.

The good news, however, is that the law gives the holder of a judgment a great deal of power to enforce the judgment. A judgment is enforceable for ten years and can be renewed by applying to the court. During the life of the judgment you can, for example, put liens on real property and some forms of personal property. You can garnish wages, drain bank accounts, even have a sheriff or a keeper operate a business and take the proceeds to pay your judgment. You can force the judgment debtor to come to court to discuss their assets, and they can be jailed for failing to comply.

Not all of a debtor's property is subject to levy under a writ of execution or garnishment. There are limits in the law, called exemptions, which allow a debtor to keep certain kinds of property safe from being used to pay a judgment. Some exemptions are calculated by dollar amount while other exemptions are by the category of the property. For example a debtor may safeguard household goods and furnishings to the extent they are ordinarily and reasonably necessary to, and used by, the judgment debtor and their family in their household. Tools and business equipment are exempt up to the amount of $6,075 or double that amount if used by the judgment debtor and their spouse. There are other exemptions for other kinds of property including equity in vehicles and homes.

Typically judgments are paid through active enforcement efforts for two reasons. First you can seize money or property sufficient to pay the judgment. The second is the inconvenience and disruption of being the subject of enforcement activity is enough to force the judgment debtor to pay or find the money to pay the judgment.

The particular approach for enforcing a judgment depends on the circumstances of the creditor, the debtor, the amount of money involved, and what kinds of money or property the debtor has. Much also depends on information which is usually in short supply.

All this power without the right information, strategy and approach will not lead to payment.

I have been involved in enforcing judgments from the beginning of my career as an attorney. In addition to this experience, I have access to excellent sources of information for locating people and property. If you have an unsatisfied judgment, call now for assistance.