Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Small Claims Court Judgment
The judgment debtor has not paid on the judgment nor has he filed a statement of assests. Should I file a application and order to produce statement of assests and to appear for examination ? and should I hire a attorney for this ? Or should I file for a order of examination and ask for the small claims subpoena and declaration ? Which would be the most affective action to take to claim the money owed to me ?
I am a caregiver for my mother-in-law and have a hard time driving 50 miles out of town to run to court.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Small Claims Court Judgment
It is true that the judgment debtor in a small claims case is supposed to file a statement of assets if the judgment is not satisfied. This rarely happens, however. I was reading about this the other day while researching another issue, and several secondary sources urge that the fastest way to get a judgment debtor to comply with asset disclosure is to apply for a judgment debtor's examination.
I understand the difficulties involved in travel, but most attorneys will not handle a case involving small claims collections unless there is some money in it for them.
Good luck.
Very truly yours,