 |
|
-->
You are here: Families & Children > Enforcement of Judgment > Collecting Family Law Money Judgments (not for child or spousal/partner support)
General Questions - Start Here
Working it Out
Enforcing a money judgment when the debtor will not pay
I am the debtor and want to oppose the actions taken by the creditor
General Questions-Start here
How do I collect my family law money judgment (not for child or spousal/partner support orders)?
Do not use illegal ways to collect your money
What if the other party owes me money under our Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA)?
When can I start collecting my family law judgment?
Working it out
How can I encourage the person who owes me money to pay voluntarily?
Enforcing a money judgment when the debtor will not pay
What if the person who owes me the money (the judgment debtor) still will not pay the full amount?
I know the debtor has assets or has a job. What legal steps can I take to collect the money the debtor owes me?
How do I put a lien on the debtor's real property?
How do I collect from the debtor's wages if he or she is employed?
How can I collect money from the debtor's bank account?
Can I put a lien on the debtor's personal property?
Can I have the sheriff take the debtor's car and sell it?
How do I get a Writ of Execution (Money Judgment)?
What is a Claim of Exemption for wage garnishment?
How do I file a Claim of Exemption for a wage garnishment?
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for a wage garnishment?
What is a Claim of Exemption for a levy or other non-wage garnishment?
How do I file a Claim of Exemption for a levy or other non-garnishment?
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for non-wage garnishments?
I am the debtor and want to oppose the actions taken by the creditor
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for a wage garnishment?
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for non-wage garnishments?
How do I collect my family law money judgment (not for child or spousal/partner support orders)?
You have to collect your family law money judgment yourself. The court will not do it for you. There are some initial steps you can take:
- Give them an address where they can mail the payment. You can offer to accept less than the whole judgment if they pay right away. Or, you can agree to take regular payments. But if you agree to accept less than the whole judgment, you will give up your right to the rest of the money
- If the debtor does not pay you by the date the court ordered, write him or her a letter and include a copy of the court order. Remind them that they owe you money and that you may have to follow more serious steps if they don’t pay you voluntarily.
- Talk to a lawyer. If the judgment debtor will not pay, it can be complicated, expensive and take a lot of time to collect your money.
[ Top of Page ]
Do not use illegal ways to collect your money:
The person who owes you money may be protected from abusive or unfair ways to collect the debt. And generally, it is not a good idea for you to use unfair or deceitful tactics to get the money the debtor owes you.
In your efforts to collect the debt, you should NOT
- lie or make misleading statements to collect a debt,
- harass the person who owes you money,
- ask another person for more than basic information about where the debtor is,
- tell the debtor's employer or other people that the debtor owes you money (except when you get an earnings withholding order), or
- get in touch with the debtor before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. or at any time or place that isn’t convenient.
[ Top of Page ]
What if the other party owes me money under our Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA)?
It depends. If your Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) was “merged” or “incorporated” into (became part of) your judgment, then you can enforce it like any family law money judgment. The rest of the instructions in this section would apply.
But, if your MSA was not merged or incorporated into your judgment, it is treated like a contract and not a judgment. This means you can’t enforce it as you can enforce a money judgment. If you want to enforce any of the terms, you have to file a civil case for breach of contract and get a judgment through that civil case.
You may want to talk to an attorney about how to file a civil case for breach of contract. Click here for help finding a lawyer.
[ Top of Page ]
When can I start collecting my family law judgment?
You can start collecting right away as long as:
- The judgment has been entered. You can check the court records to confirm that that the judgment has been entered; and
- There is no stay (suspension or postponement) on enforcement of the order due to an appeal, a stay from a bankruptcy, or other legal action.
How can I encourage the person who owes me money to pay voluntarily?
There are several ways you can encourage a debtor to pay you voluntarily.
You can:
Write a letter.
Help the debtor find assets to pay the judgment.
Be flexible about payment terms.
Accept installment payments.
[ Top of Page ]
Write a letter.
Write a letter to show the debtor it's in his or her best interest to pay the judgment as soon as possible.
In your letter, you can say that if the debtor does not pay:
- The amount the debtor owes will increase daily, since the judgment accumulates interest at the rate of 10% per year. Click here for more information on interest accruing on judgments.
- You can seek reimbursement from the debtor of any reasonable and necessary costs of collection.
- Credit reporting agencies will know the debtor has not paid the judgment because the debtor's name will appear on the court's "Judgment Roll."
- If they do not pay, you can ask for:
- a wage garnishment against the debtor, and maybe the debtor's spouse, or the debtor's domestic partner,
- a levy on the debtor's bank account, and
- liens on real property (like a house or land) or personal property.
[ Top of Page ]
Help the debtor find assets to pay the judgment
Sometimes debtors honestly believe they don't have any way to pay this debt.
Encourage your debtor to consider sources of assets like:
- use their income tax refund,
- take a personal loan,
- have a garage sale,
- auction personal items on the Internet.
- borrow against a retirement account (401(k)),
- get a credit card cash advance (but, if you are the debtor, realize that this can result in high credit card fees).
[ Top of Page ]
Be flexible about payment terms.
Sometimes, being flexible will pay off.
Here are some ideas:
- Accept (weekly or monthly) payments.
- Accept less than what the court ordered.
- Let the debtor pay you with property or work instead of money.
- If the debtor is out of work, help the debtor find work.
[ Top of Page ]
Accept installment payments.
If you decide to accept installment payments, write a letter to the debtor. Explain how the judgment will be paid. Include payment of interest and costs, if any.
Click here to see a sample letter.
[ Top of Page ]
What if the person who owes me the money (the judgment debtor) still will not pay the full amount?
If, after trying to resolve the problem amicably, the judgment debtor still fails to pay you the court-ordered amount, you can take a number of legal steps. But, before you go any further, you should first find out if the debtor has any assets that you can go after in order to get the money the debtor owes you.
Once there is a judgment, the creditor can ask that the debtor appear in court to answer questions under oath regarding his or her financial status and asset information. The creditor can then use this information to start legal collection procedures. To do this, fill out and file an Application and Order for Appearance and Examination (Form EJ-125). There are some restrictions for filing this application, so make sure you read the form carefully. Once you file this form, you will get a court hearing and you will have to have a registered process server or the sheriff/marshal serve a copy of the Application and Order for Appearance and Examination on the debtor. If the debtor does not show up at the hearing, the court may issue a bench warrant for the debtor’s arrest. If the debtor shows up, you will have the chance to ask him or her questions about where he works, his bank accounts, property, belongings, stocks and any other assets the debtor may have.
Your court self-help center or Family Law Facilitator may have instructions to help you get through this process. Click here to find help at your court.
[ Top of Page ]
I know the debtor has assets or has a job. What legal steps can I take to collect the money the debtor owes me?
- Put a lien on the judgment debtor’s real property (like a house or land).
You can put a lien on any real property that the debtor owns so that if she or he tries to refinance or sell the property, you can get your money.
Click here to learn how to put a lien on real property.
- Get an Earnings Withholding Order . With this, the judgment debtor’s employer will withhold (take) a percentage of their wages and send it to you until the judgment is paid in full.
You’ll need to know the name and address of the employer. The sheriff or process server will serve the employer with an Application for Earnings Withholding Order. The judgment debtor will get the chance to oppose your application. If he or she does, the court will then decide how much should be withheld to pay the judgment.
Click here to find out how to get an Earnings Withholding Order.
- Levy the judgment debtor's bank account . You can tell the sheriff to take money from the judgment debtor’s bank account and give it to you.
Click here to learn how to levy a bank account.
- Put a lien on the judgment debtor’s personal property (like cars, furniture, equipment). You can get the sheriff to take that person’s car or other property, sell it, and give you the money. But this is hard and expensive to do. You have to pay upfront, and if the property isn’t worth very much, you may not get all your money back.
Click here
to learn how to put a lien on personal property.
There are other legal steps you can take to collect a money judgment, especially if the debtor owns a business. Talk to your court’s self-help center or Family Law Facilitator to find out if they have information on these other procedures and instructions for how your court handles them. Click here to find help at your court.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I put a lien on the debtor's real property?
- Prepare an Abstract of Judgment-Civil and Small Claims (form EJ-001). All the required information must be included or the lien will not be valid.
- Take or mail two copies of the completed Abstract of Judgment to the court so that the court can be certified by the clerk of the court. There is a $15 fee for this. If you use mail, be sure to include an envelope addressed to yourself and with sufficient postage so that the court can return the certified Abstract of Judgment to you.
- Take the certified Abstract of Judgment and one copy to the County Recorder's office in the county where you believe the debtor owns real property. Click here to find a County Recorder. There will be a recording fee, which varies depending on a number of factors, but currently is about $20.
- The county recorder will provide notice to the debtor that you have recorded the Abstract of Judgment.
- You will not be paid automatically, but if the debtor refinances or sells the property, you may get paid your money with interest.
- If you believe the debtor owns property in more than one county, you will have to repeat this process for each county. Only one Abstract of Judgment needs to be recorded per county, even if there are multiple properties within a single county.
Some county assessors will confirm if a debtor owns real property over the phone or you may be able to find that information online at the county assessor’s website. Click here to find your county tax assessor.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I collect from the debtor's wages if he or she is employed?
You can get an Earnings Withholding Order to garnish the debtor’s wages until you are paid. You have the right to collect up to 25% of the amount over the federal minimum wage that the debtor earns (as long as it is not exempt under other rules).
- Ask the court to issue a Writ of Execution (form EJ-130). Click here to learn how to ask for a Writ of Execution.
- Prepare an Application for Earnings Withholding Order (form WG-001).
- Hire a process server or the sheriff/marshal to serve the employer with the necessary papers for the wage garnishment
- The process server or sheriff/marshal will usually fill out the Earnings Withholding Order (form WG-002) using the information from the Writ of Execution. But you may have to fill it out yourself. This form has instructions in the back for the employer explaining how much money to garnish from the debtor’s wages.
- The process server or sheriff/marshal must also serve the employer with the Employer’s Return (form WG-005) and Employee Instructions (Wage Garnishment) (form WG-003). You may have to provide these forms to the process server or sheriff/marshal.
The debtor has 10 days to file a Claim of Exemption. Click here to learn about Claims of Exemption for wage garnishments.
Check with the Family Law Facilitator or sheriff/marshal for more information.
[ Top of Page ]
How can I collect money from the debtor's bank account?
You can get a levy on the debtor’s bank account. You will need to know the branch where the accounts are kept, and usually, you also have to know the account number.
1. Ask the court to issue a Writ of Execution (form EJ-130). Click here to learn how to ask for a Writ of Execution.
2. Then prepare instructions for the sheriff/marshal explaining what you want them to levy. Check with your levying officers to see if they have a local form or prepare your own.Click here to find your local sheriff.
3. In many counties you'll need to hire a process server to serve the bank with the Notice of Levy (Enforcement of Judgment) (form EJ-150) in order to get the money from the account. If you hire a process server, they generally will prepare the instructions as a part of their fee.
4. At the time of levy or promptly after the levy, a process server or sheriff/marshal must also serve (personally or by mail) the judgment debtor with copies of the writ, notice of levy and the Exemptions from the Enforcement of Judgments (form EJ-155). Check to see if you are responsible for providing these forms for service.
The judgment debtor has 10 days to oppose the bank levy before the sheriff sends the money to the creditor. The debtor has to file a Claim of Exemption. The court may have a hearing to decide whether to turn all or some of the money over to the creditor or let the judgment debtor keep it.
Click here to get more information about Claims of Exemption for non-wage garnishments.
Check with the Family Law Facilitator or sheriff/marshal for more information.
[ Top of Page ]
Can I put a lien on the debtor's personal property?
Yes. You can have the sheriff take the personal property and sell it at public auction to pay the debt. But, often, the cost of doing this is more than the value of the property, so make sure that the property you want the sheriff to take and sell will be worth all the effort and money.
[ Top of Page ]
Can I have the sheriff take the debtor's car and sell it?
Yes, but this process is fairly expensive. Also, there often isn't enough value, if any, left in the vehicle to pay very much of the judgment. Follow these steps:
- Start by getting information about the vehicle including its identification number (VIN), make, model, color, license number and physical location If possible, also find out if a bank or other lender has an interest in the vehicle.
- Ask the court to issue a Writ of Execution (form EJ-130) directed to the sheriff/marshal in the county where the vehicle is located.
- Give the sheriff/marshal written instructions that describe the vehicle as thoroughly as possible and their fees and deposit (approximately $1,000).
- An officer will then physically remove the vehicle and store it. Daily storage costs will accrue until the vehicle is sold.
- The sheriff/marshal then advertises the public auction of the vehicle and gives notice to the debtor.
- If the vehicle is sold at auction, before you get paid, the sheriff's fees will be paid. Also, the debtor is entitled to $2,300 of the proceeds of the sale (paid to them or to a lienholder if there is a loan on the vehicle.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I get a Writ of Execution (Money Judgment)?
Ask the Court to issue a Writ of Execution (Money Judgment). With a Writ of Execution, the court directs the sheriff or marshal to enforce the money judgment in the county where the assets are located. Obtaining a Writ of Execution may be a required first step in enforcing your money judgment and is the most common method of reaching a judgment debtor’s interest in real and personal property.
To ask the court to issue a Writ, you will have to prepare the Writ of Execution (Form EJ-130) and an Affidavit supporting the Writ of Execution, where you explain why you need this Writ of Execution to collect on your judgment. Courts may deal with Writs of Execution differently. You may just have to file the Writ and the affidavit and wait for the judge’s decision. If the judge agrees with you, the court will issue you a Writ of Execution. In some cases, you may have to ask for a hearing in front of the judge and maybe even give notice to the debtor that you are going to court to get a Writ of Execution. Talk to the clerk at your local court or your Family Law Facilitator to find out how your court handles this process.
Writs of Execution are only good for 180 days.
[ Top of Page ]
What is a Claim of Exemption for wage garnishment?
A Claim of Exemption is a form a debtor files with the levying officer (like the sheriff or marshal) explaining why the wages that the creditor wants the debtor’s employer to garnish (take) should be exempt (excluded). There are laws and rules that say which types of incomes or property are exempt. You can read many of these exemptions in Exemptions from the Enforcement of Judgments (Form EJ-155).
Click here for information to file a Claim of Exemption for wage garnishments.
Click here for information to oppose a Claim of Exemption for wage garnishments.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I file a Claim of Exemption for a wage garnishment?
Within 10 days of receiving a copy of the Wage Garnishment:
- Fill out a Claim of Exemption (Form WG-006) and a Financial Statement (Form WG-007)
- Use the Exemption from the Enforcement of Judgments (Form EJ-155) to find out what property or income is exempt from a levy.
- Turn in 2 copies of the Claim of Exemption and the Financial Statement to the levying officer in your case (like the sheriff/marshal or process server) within 10 days of receiving the Notice of Levy. Keep one copy of both forms for yourself.
- Your employer will hold on to the money garnished until:
- 10 days go by and the creditor hasn’t opposed the claim of exemption
Or
- The judge makes a decision at the hearing on the claim of exemption
- If the creditor doesn’t oppose your claim of exemption, your employer will return the wages to you.
- If the creditor opposes your claim of exemption, you will receive a Notice of Opposition to Claim of Exemption and Notice of Hearing on Claim of Exemption that will set a court date for a judge to make a decision.
- If the judge agrees with your claim of exemption, you will get the money back. If the judge agrees with the creditor, your employer will send the money to the creditor every month.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for a wage garnishment?
Within 10 days of receiving a copy of the Claim of Exemption:
- Fill out a Notice of Opposition to Claim of Exemption (Form WG-009) and make 3 copies
- Fill out a Notice of Hearing on Claim of Exemption (Form WG-010) and make 3 copies
- File the original of both forms with the court. The clerk will give you a court date.
- Give a copy of each document to the levying officer (the sheriff or marshal). Keep one copy for yourself.
- Have someone 18 or older, NOT YOU, serve a copy of each on the judgment debtor (or, if the judgment debtor is represented by an attorney, on that attorney,) at least 10 days before the hearing.
- Go to your court hearing and explain to the judge why the money you are trying to collect is not exempt.
[ Top of Page ]
What is a Claim of Exemption for a levy or other non-wage garnishment?
A Claim of Exemption is a form a debtor files with the levying officer (like the sheriff or marshal) explaining why the property or money that the creditor wants to take should be exempt (excluded). There are laws and rules that say which types of incomes or property are exempt. You can read many of these exemptions in Exemptions from the Enforcement of Judgments (Form EJ-155).
Click here for information to file a Claim of Exemption for non-wage garnishments.
Click here for information to oppose a Claim of Exemption for non-wage garnishments.
[ Top of Page ]
How do I file a Claim of Exemption for a levy or other non-garnishment?
Within 10 days from receiving the Notice of levy:
- Fill out a Claim of Exemption (Form EJ-160) and a Financial Statement (Form EJ-165).
- Use the Exemptions from the Enforcement of Judgments (Form EJ-155) to find out what property or income is exempt from a levy.
- Turn in the Claim of Exemption with the levying officer in your case (like the sheriff/marshal or process server) within 10 days of receiving the Notice of Levy.
- The levying officer will hold on to your property or money until:
- 10 days go by and the creditor doesn’t oppose your claim of exemption
Or
- The judge makes a decision at the hearing on the claim of exemption
- If the creditor doesn’t oppose your claim of exemption, the levying officer will return the property or money to you.
- If the Creditor opposes your claim of exemption, you will receive Notice of Opposition to Claim of Exemption and Notice of Hearing on Claim of Exemption that will set a court date for a judge to make a decision.
- At the hearing, the judge will make the final decision. If the judge agrees with you, you will get the money or property back. If the judge agrees with the creditor, the levying officer will turn over your money or property to the creditor.
How do I oppose a Claim of Exemption for non-wage garnishments?
Within 10 days of receiving notice of the Claim of Exemption:
- Fillout a Notice of Opposition to Claim of Exemption (Form EJ-170) and make 3 copies
- Fill out a Notice of Hearing on Claim of Exemption (Form EJ-175) and make 3 copies
- File the original of both forms with the court. The clerk will give you a court date.
- Give a copy of each document to the levying officer (like the sheriff/marshal). Keep one copy for yourself.
- Have someone 18 or older, NOT YOU, serve a copy of each on the judgment debtor (or, if the judgment debtor is represented by an attorney, on that attorney,) at least 10 days before the hearing.
- Go to your court hearing and explain to the judge why the money or property you are trying to collect is not exempt.
[ Top of Page ]
<< back
Last modified: 08/27/2008
About Us | Web Site Feedback
Web Policies | Public Access to Records | Accessibility
|
