Discovery For Judgment Enforcement

Recovering judgments requires one to learn pertinent data on the debtor and their assets. Usually, it is difficult to difficult a judgment when you don't know the assets your adversary possesses.

You have two ways to get the information you require. The first way is to pay a private investigator, expert, or a business to locate the judgment debtor's bank accounts, income sources, real estate, and perhaps hidden assets. This article does not cover this.

This article covers the other method of getting such info, through formal discovery with court-ordered examinations and document production requests.

Discovery is the formal court process where one requests relevant documents or information from your judgment debtor, and/or third parties possessing info about/on the judgment debtor's assets, in an attempt to "discover" relevant facts about the assets of the debtor.

Examples of discovery tools available for either pre or post-judgment proceedings, include debtor exams, depositions, interrogatories, requests for documents or things to be produced, and consent to enter upon land or other property to inspect or other purposes.

One needs to check with their lawyer, or when doing discovery themselves, start by learning the local court rules and state laws. Then, find samples of discovery motions that were used in your court, to find out which methods of post-judgment discovery are available to use.

Sometimes, judgment debtors that have not cooperated, and have no willingness to pay off their judgment debt, start paying, after they are served with a court-mandated post judgment discovery request.

The realm of info that can be found with the procedures of post-judgment discovery processes is usually very broad. Usually the mantra is "Leave no stone unturned." Usually, courts are supportive of post-judgment discovery, however some are reducing their support, due to our economic mess.

As long as you prepare the right paperwork, pay the court, and get all parties served correctly, third parties can be brought in who know about or possess, the judgment debtor's assets.

An example of a third-party witness to your debtor's assets would be the debtor's employer, to disclose employment and payroll records. Another example would be a financial institution or a bank, that usually will be obligated to disclose records on the judgment debtor's bank accounts.

What happens if your debtor will not cooperate with a court order to answer inquiries, produce documents, or even to appear in court? That answer depends on which state and what court.

In certain places, flagrantly disregard a court order in post-judgment proceedings gets punished with contempt of court and potential jail sentences, or at least a warrant for the judgment debtor's arrest. In other counties, debtors are never arrested, and contempt of court for civil issues are no longer a priority with busy courts. If your court and Sheriff take contempt of court and bench warrants seriously, this will sure get your debtor's attention.

The best part of court discovery is often when third-parties served to answer questions or produce records about the judgment debtor and/or their assets. Even if a debtor doesn't care about a court's order to show up for a debtor examination, they might become uneasy when their business partner, spouse, landlord, or employer is served with a court order to appear at court.

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Related Articles - How to enforce my judgment, how to collect a judgment, Post Judgment Discovery, debtor's assets, enforce your judgment, Post-Judgment Discovery,

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