Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri
Judgment Against Individual vs. Corporation
I personally have a judgment of $500,000 in the state of Missouri. The judgment has my name and social security number, address. I am Secretary/Treasurer and sole stockholder of a Wyoming corporation formed after the judgment was entered in Missouri. The Wyoming corporation has its' own name, federal EIN. The bank accounts only have the Corporation name and federal EIN number on the account. My question is this. Could the Missouri plantiff garnish a bank account if the bank account is in the name of the corporation since my name and my social security number are NOT on the bank account.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Judgment Against Individual vs. Corporation
The plaintiff might have a hard time finding the account, but if he does, he can probably garnish it. You set up the corporation after the judgment. Any assets you transferred to the company after the date of the judgment could be thought of as funds transferred to thwart collection -- in essence, a fraudulent transfer. It is probably in your best interests to hire an attorney and attempt to negotiate a resolution of the debt.
Re: Judgment Against Individual vs. Corporation
Anthony Dewitt always gives good responses to questions posted on this list. In addition to his response, I would suggest that the judgment creditor might execute on your shares of stock in the Wyoming corporation, and thereby obtain all corporate assets. If these assets are located in Wyoming, I believe that the judgment creditor will register the Missouri judgment in that state and then execute or run garnishments on the Wyoming judgment.