Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Garnishments

My husband won a judgment in Small Claims Court in 2000. The original settlement was $2,700. Of course, debtor's child support obligations come first, but we know this has diminished. My husband was told by the debtor's Employer that even though the form explains pension plans are considered as source of income, they insist we need an attorney in order to be paid any money placed in this account. As it stands now, a check for approximately $2.00 comes in the mail every 2 weeks. At this rate it will take forever to pay the debt, court costs, sheriff fees, and interest. Can this money be used to pay the debt without an attorney?


Asked on 4/20/07, 8:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: Garnishments

What you need to do is discover the assets of the debtor. Go to Small Claims Court and file a "Motion for Discovery of Assets" and set a hearing for examination of the debtor under oath. If you go to the local court house, they have a law library, and the law library will have a form book that will have a form for doing this. File this with the court, and have the sheriff serve him. He hs to come and you can ask him about property, retirement accounts, etc. Once you have this information, if you petition the court to allow you to attach the retirmenet account you should be able to do so.

If you know he has such an account, you need to file a request to execute on the account or garnish the account. This is separate from a wage garnishment. You have to name the account and who holds the account, and serve them with the garnishment.

Good luck

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Answered on 4/20/07, 10:00 pm


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