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You are here: Families & Children > Enforcement of Judgment > About Family Law Judgments
How long does the money judgment I got in my family law case last?
Is there interest accumulating on the money judgment?
Do I have to file anything to make sure my money judgment in my family law case does not expire?
If I don’t have to, why would I want to file a renewal of judgment?
How do I renew the judgment?
How can I enforce my money judgment in my family law case?
How can we work things out without going to court?
How long does the money judgment I got in my family law case last?
Until paid in full or satisfied in some other way
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Is there interest accumulating on the money judgment?
Yes. The legal rate of interest is 10% per year. The interest accumulates daily. Each day, a money judgment automatically accumulates interest.
So, if you have a judgment for $10,000, and you get no payments for the first year, the interest that would accumulate would be $1,000 after one year. Or, $2.74 per day.
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Do I have to file anything to make sure my money judgment in my family law case does not expire?
No. You can file a renewal of judgment if you want, but you do not have to. Your order will be valid until paid in full.
Keep in mind that for non-family law judgments, the person who is owed the money has to file a renewal of judgment every 10 years or the judgment will expire. But, in family law cases, you do not have to do this.
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If I don’t have to, why would I want to file a renewal of judgment?
When you renew a judgment, you update the amount that you are owed to add the accrued interest, costs you have incurred since the judgment was entered, plus show credit for any partial payments that have been made.
All the interest, costs, plus the unpaid principal are added together, and it becomes the new principal. This means that the accrued interest and costs becomes part of the principal, and future interest will accrue on a higher amount, and will be higher.
Example: if you have a judgment for $10,000, the yearly interest would be $1000. After 9 years, you would be owed $10,000 plus $9000 if you had not received any payments along the way. If you don’t renew your judgment, there will continue to be $1000 in interest added yearly. But, if you renew after 9 years, the new principal becomes $19,000, which means that the yearly interest, after renewal, would be $1,900 ($900 more per year than if you had not renewed the judgment).
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How do I renew the judgment?
If you want to renew your judgment, file a form called Application For and Renewal of Judgment (Form EJ - 190). You’ll have to pay a fee. You have to file before the first 10 years are up. You can’t enforce the renewed judgment until you serve the person who owes you money with a form called Notice of Renewal of Judgment (Form EJ - 195). They have 30 days from the day they’re served to file a motion to vacate or modify the renewal.
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How can I enforce my money judgment in my family law case?
If you are trying to enforce a child support order or a spousal/partner support order, click here.
If you’re trying to enforce another type of money judgment in your family law case, there are several things you can try to get your money. Click here for more information.
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How can we work things out without going to court?
You can go to your local Family Law Facilitator, who can help you write up an agreement that you can both sign and the judge can then sign it, without you having to go to court. The Family Law Facilitator will be able to help you with an agreement about support, and may be able to help you with an agreement about other monetary issues in your family law case.
Click here to find your Family Law Facilitator.
You can also go to the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) and try to work out an agreement about child support there. Click here to find the Local Child Support Agency.
Or you can go to a private mediator or a lawyer for help working out an agreement in your family law case about your property or money issues.
If you want help with custody and visitation mediation, you may be able to get help from your court’s Family Court Services. Click here for more information on custody mediation.
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Last modified: 03/17/2008
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