Lexington Judgment Collections
South Carolina Judgment Enforcement Attorney
If you have succeeded in Court and obtained a monetary judgment award you may now be thinking "now what?". In South Carolina a civil monetary judgment does not create an affirmative obligation on behalf of the judgment debtor to pay. Instead our law creates a legal right on behalf of the judgment creditor to seek to collect on the judgment.
Judgments in South Carolina are obtained in one of the following ways:
- As part of a verdict after a jury or judge trial in Court
- From a Court order granting summary judgment or similar relief
- When a lawsuit defendant is held in default
- A recorded Confession of Judgment
- After an out of state judgment is filed in South Carolina
If you have not yet secured a judgment against your debtor contact our office to discuss your legal options we can provide to help you initiate the collections process. We collect judgments against commercial debtors and individual debtors. In order to collect on any judgment in South Carolina the debtor must have tangible assets, real estate equity or financial accounts. Wage garnishment is not generally available for judgments that originated in Courts other than Family Court.
South Carolina Judgment Expiration
You generally have ten years to seek enforcement of a South Carolina judgment. Until recently this was considered an absolute time limit, however a recent case argued by James Snell at the South Carolina Supreme Court provides for an important exception in cases where formal enforcement procedures were initiated prior to the ten year expiration date. Contact a Lexington Judgment Collection attorney today regarding your rights to enforce your judgment. Judgments in South Carolina are not subject to renewal. Judgments in South Carolina do earn post-judgment interest which we calculate as part of the collections process.
Judgment Collection Procedures
The Law Office of James R. Snell, Jr., LLC, will use every legally available method to seek to collect on and enforce your judgment. South Carolina law provides for legal procedures to seek to enforce or collect on any judgment.
As a judgment collection attorney James Snell will use:
- Sheriff's Department Asset Locators
- Challenges Against Fraudulent Property or Asset Transfers
- Pending Probate Court Distributions
- Execution Orders on Land and Tangible Property
- Orders to Seize and Levy Against Bank Accounts
- Discovery of Information on Current Assets
- Supplemental Proceedings to Obtain Enforcement Orders
Out of State Judgment Collection in South Carolina
Under the Full Faith and Credit clause of the United States Constitution a judgment obtained in another state can be recorded or domesticated in South Carolina. If you require help filing your out of state judgment in South Carolina and then enforcing it against a debtor who has assets or now resides in South Carolina contact our office for assistance. We will help file the judgment and then see to its execution.
Family Court Awards
If you have been awarded alimony, child support or property distribution by any Family Court order you have specific legal rights that likely differ from those available to those seeking to enforce a civil monetary award.
Contact us if you need assistance in enforcing a Family Court award.
