Judgement and collections

[wysiwyg]

Soc,

IN state.

BM has 2 judgements on her 1- failure to pay credit card, in excess of 10K plus costs and insterest and 2- failure to pay our attorney fees, resulting in auto judgement by the law firm who is the Judgement holder.

Judgement 1 is set for a court date next week for collections, she has to show proof of income, assets etc.

Judgement 2 - has been filed asking for a court date, for her to show proof of the same above, and an order to follow thorugh with collecitons.

By my records from divorce settlement, monies I paid her, monies she was willed, assets in home (100% paid for at time of divorce) she has been paid 110K and has another 150K in assets, IRA's and pensions.

1.  What will likely happen and
2.  what will likely be attacked?

BTW, she has only reported that she has $600 in bank and has repeatedly reported the last ten years as manking $984 week, and previous 2 filings for collections resulted in repayments within the last 18 months.

Just want to know what and where I need to be looking, since Judgement 2 will actually end up being a repayment to me since I have paid in full the attorney's fees.

Thanks!

[socrateaser]

>1.  What will likely happen and
>2.  what will likely be attacked?

You'll ask how much and where, and she will either tell you or not or say there isn't anything. You can ask how much she owes on the home, if she still has title, etc., some of that you could find out yourself.

Hopefully, you've subpoenaed her to bring documents from all of her accounts and title and mortgage statements.

Ultimately, collecting from someone is all about whether they have a home or a job or some account with assets, and then getting a writ of execution to have the sheriff sell the home or attach the assets, and give you your money, or garnish the person's wages to the extent possible (25% max of after tax income) for non child/spousal support judgments.

So, you need to find out where da money is located. Collecting money on a judgment from someone who doesn't have deep pockets is very tough to do. You have to persist. I can't really tell you everything about where and how to look in this limited forum. Just think about where people keep money or valuable property (safe deposit box =  diamond rings, coins, stamps, bonds, stocks, cash).

Usually, the best mark is someone home, because it has equity. However, if they've borrowed all the money out of it, then that's a dead end too, and the person may be judgment proof, which means, you'll never collect from them. Also, State's frequently have homestead exemptions that prevent a sheriff's sale until the amount of judgments in aggregate exceeds some number (e.g. $3K in Oregon). But, the exemption may be much higher where this defendant's home is located.

If the judgment were for non-payment of support, then the judge can incarcerate to encourage compliance, but otherwise, debtor's prison is prohibited by the 13th Amendment against involuntary servitude.