Legal Question in Elder Law in Illinois

Re: judgement collection

Unfortunately, there is no way to collect a judgment without expending time, effort, or expense, unless the judgment debtor voluntarily pay you, which he is not doing in this case. The methods to collect on a judgment are too numerous to describe here, but generally you have to find an asset of the judgment debtor, and then "levy" on it. In order to find the assets of the judgment debtor, you can prepare, have the clerk issue, and then serve a "citation to discover assets." The citation, when served on the judgment debtor or a third party, can require the recipient to testify under oath concerning the assets and income of the judgment debtor. You can also use the citation to freeze the assets of the judgment debtor. Upon idetifying any assets purasuant to the citation, you can then seek to have the assets turned over to the sherriff, to be sold, at you expense. If the asset is a bank account or similar liquid asset, the court can order the account liquidated and turned over to you to be applied to the judgment. Any amount you collect in excess of the judgment amount must be returned to the judgment debtor, but the court costs of these proceedings can be added to the amount of the judgment.