While winning a court case and being awarded damages is certainly a good thing, that doesn’t mean that it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief, as the battle may not be over yet. If the opposing part isn’t willing to pay the judgement, you are responsible for collecting the payment you are owed on your own. Fortunately, in the event that the opposing party does not pay out, there are several legal tools that you can use to secure your payment.
It’s important to note that working with a lawyer to collect on a judgement in Minnesota is strongly recommended. An experienced attorney will have knowledge of the tools that you can used to collect on your judgement. The following are just some of the ways that you can collect on a judgement in Minnesota.
Docket the Judgement
After winning a judgement, the first thing you’ll need to do is docket the judgement; sometimes this process is also referred to as “transcribing the judgement”. In order to docket a judgement, an Affidavit of Identification of Judgement Debtor form needs to be filed with the court administration in the county where the judgement was awarded. Depending on the type of case, there may be a fee to docket the judgement. The court will also publish an Affidavit of Identification of Judgement Creditor, a form that is required when a foreign judgement needs to be docketed in Minnesota. A foreign judgement is a judgement that was awarded in a different state.
Request an Order for Disclosure
In the event that more information regarding where the debtor works and/or whether or not the debtor has a bank account, a Request for Order for Disclosure can be filed with the court administration. A nominal fee will need to be paid for each Request for Oder for Disclosure that is filed. It’s important to note that if the case originated in Conciliation Court, a Request for Order for Disclosure can be filed at any time after the judgement has been docketed. If the case originated in District Court, the judgement has to be docketed for longer than 30 days before a Request for Order for Disclosure can be filed.
When this form is filed, the court administration will issue the debtor an Order for Disclosure and a Financial Disclosure form. The court administration will send you a copy of the Order for Disclosure, too, which you should keep for your records. The Order for Disclosure instructs the debtor to complete and send the Financial Disclosure back to you, which must be done within 16 days after the Order for Disclosure was sent out to the debtor.
Request an Oder to Show Cause
If 16 days has passed since the court administration sent the Financial Disclosure form to the debtor and the debtor has not returned the form to you, you can file an Affidavit in Support of Order to Show Cause. This form can also be filed if the Financial Disclosure form was sent back to you, but the debtor failed to fully complete it. A small fee will need to be paid when filing an Affidavit in Support of Order to Show Cause.
Should the judge determine that a hearing is necessary, on Order to Show Cause will be issued, which requires that the debtor to appear for a hearing and explain why they failed to return the completed Financial Disclosure form.
Send a Notice of Intent to Collect from Wages
If you are attempting to collect your payment from the debtor’s wages, you will need to give written notice to the debtor of your intent to collect from the debtor’s earnings. To issue a written notice, a Execution Exemption Notice and Notice of Intent to Levy an Earnings must be completed. The debtor must be given notice at least 10 days before a Writ of Execution can be served, if issued by hand; if issued by mail, the debtor must be given at least 13-days notice.