After obtaining a judgment against a debtor, a creditor must wait for the appeal period to expire before summoning the debtor to court for supplementary proceedings. If the debtor has non-exempt assets or income, a writ of execution or garnishment may be ordered to satisfy the judgment. State laws vary on what property can be enforced.
Once a creditor has obtained a judgment against a debtor, he still has to collect the judgment. Jurisdictions will have different procedures and rules under which a creditor can collect a judgment; however, the basic process is generally similar. The obligee must first wait for the appeal period to expire and then summon the obligee to court for supplementary proceedings to determine whether the obligor has the ability to pay the debt. If the court is satisfied that the debtor has assets or income that can be used to collect a judgment, a writ of execution or garnishment may be required.
In many cases, actually getting a judgment against someone is the easy part. A judgment, however, is just a court decision that money is legally owed to the creditor. The obligee must then enforce or collect a judgment. Before a creditor can summon the debtor to court to try to enforce the judgment, he must wait for the appeal period to expire. In the United States, the time period within which a debtor must appeal a judgment is generally 30 days, although it may be longer or shorter depending on the jurisdiction.
Once the time limit to appeal the judgment has passed, the creditor can file a supplementary motion to proceed, sometimes called a “debtor interview,” among other similar names. The court will then order the debtor back to court to answer questions regarding her income and his estate. In the United States, federal and state laws exempt certain income and assets from garnishment or execution to collect a judgment; however, non-exempt assets or income may be available to satisfy the ruling.
If it appears that the debtor has non-exempt assets or income, the creditor can ask the court to order an attachment or writ of execution. While the precise names may vary by jurisdiction, the concepts remain the same. A seizure can be applied to income or a bank account. If the court orders a garnishment, a portion of the debtor’s income will be deducted for each pay period and sent to the court for satisfaction of the judgment. A bank account can also be seized to collect a judgment by ordering the bank to freeze the funds and send them to the court.
A writ of execution is a court order ordering the seizure and sale of the defendant’s assets with the proceeds used to satisfy a judgment. Within the United States, state laws vary widely as to what property can be enforced. In some states, nearly all of a debtor’s assets can be enforced upon, while, in others, a creditor may be able to enforce only certain personal assets or only business assets.
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