Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The money comes from the losing party, not from the court. The law does not require them to pay immediately, and most don't. Some pay quickly and without much fuss. Others only pay after the prevailing party has taken steps to enforce the judgment. And some never pay at all.

Enforcing a judgment can be costly and time-consuming. The judgment will accrue interest in the meantime, and the prevailing party will be entitled to recover his reasonable enforcement costs as well. These facts give the losing party an incentive to pay. But the incentive doesn't always work.

Even so, some judgment debtors don't pay. This can happen, for instance, when the debt is discharged in bankruptcy. Some debtors will just make the process difficult in the hope that the judgment creditor will give up. And some don't have the money. In situations like that, enforcing the judgment may just mean throwing good money after bad.

No, not unless for some bizarre reason the money was deposited with the court. A judgment itself must now be enforced as Mr. Hoffman points out.

No. You have to get them to pay. There are court procedures to allow you to do this.