Renewing a Family Law Judgment
A money judgment from a family law case does not expire. The judgment is active and valid until all monies have been paid in full. There are reasons, however, to have your family law money judgment renewed.
Family law judgments accrue interest at the rate of 10% per year. For example, if you have a judgment for $20,000, the annual interest would be $2,000. After 5 years with no payments, the amount owed would be $30,000. If you were to have the judgment renewed, all of the money owed would become the new principle. In the example above then, the new principle is $30,000. So, the interest added each year thereafter would be $3,000 instead of $2,000.
There is a filing fee, and you must renew the judgment within the first ten years after the date of the judgment. The debtor must be served with the new judgment and will have thirty days to file a motion to vacate or modify the renewal.
If you received a judgment awarding you money in a family law case and have not received full payment, contact our office today. Judy L. Burger is known for aggressively representing clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. Call today to learn more about how we can help at (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online using our confidential inquiry form.
If you are the debtor in a family law judgment case who needs to defend against a collection action, your attorney may choose from a variety of options in your defense.
One of the tools used to defend collection by way of garnishment is a Claim of Exemption. Your attorney will prepare a document explaining why your wages should be excluded. Certain types of income and property are exempted from garnishment by law. After your attorney files your claim of exemption, the other party has ten days to oppose your claim.
Similarly, you can claim an exemption on certain types of property if a judgment creditor is seeking to impose a levy on your real or personal property. The claim of exemption should be prepared by your attorney, who knows which types of income and property are excluded from being subject to a levy.
If the other party submits a timely response to your claim of exemption, then the court will schedule a hearing and a judge will make the final decision regarding the exemptions.
If you are facing garnishment or levy, or if you are seeking to collect money from a family law judgment, call our office today. 
If a former spouse or partner owes you money based on a judgment in a family law case, it is important for you to know that in California the collection of money from a family law judgment is the responsibility of the person to whom the money is owed. In other words, if you don’t take steps to enforce payment, the court won’t do it for you.
You can begin collecting as soon as a money judgment is entered. Filing an appeal or a bankruptcy petition will not release the payer from the responsibility to pay judgments related to family support.
If the responsible party fails to pay you on or before the court-ordered deadline, you should take steps to seek payment. Statistically, the longer a debt is owed, the harder it is to collect. Don’t waste precious time wondering whether you should do anything. If a court ordered your former spouse or partner to pay, then he or she should be required to do so.
Most importantly you should contact an aggressive and caring family law attorney. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can get started on a plan to collect the money you are owed.
