What is a Judgment for Child Support and Spousal Maintenance?

When a financial obligation is unpaid, the person who is owed money may commence a lawsuit. In that lawsuit they seek a legal judgment which establishes the debt and allows the creditor certain collection remedies. The process for obtaining a child support judgment is somewhat simplified and generally only requires filing an affidavit of unpaid support with the child support in a Title IV-d case. A judgment for child support and spousal maintenance establishes the amount of any unpaid obligation.

How are Judgments collected?

Like any other judgment, once a judgment has been obtained, the plaintiff can file it with the clerk of court by filing an affidavit giving the defendant’s name, occupation and address. Once this is completed the judgment is considered “docketed.” That judgment may be further filed in any county in any county where the debtor owns real property and the judgment becomes a lien against the real property. This can be an effective collection method since the debtor would likely be required to satisfy the debt before the property can be refinanced or sold.

A Judgment also affords the creditor other collection remedies which include garnishments of wages or accounts. Of course, in order to garnish accounts, locating, retrieving and analyzing debtors’ assets can be one of the most important aspects of successfully collecting a debt. There are several procedural remedies allowed by Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure and statute that allow a creditor to acquire financial information from a debtor. Orders for Disclosure under Minnesota Statutes, section 550.011 permit a judgment creditor to apply to the district court for an order requiring the debtor to make a financial/asset disclosure. With this process an Order is sent by the Court to the debtor requiring disclosure. Since this is a Court Order, if the debtor fails to comply, an action for Contempt may be initiated. An additional remedy can be found in Rules 33 and 69 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Those provisions of Civil Procedure allow a judgment creditor to serve judgment interrogatories which must b answered within 30 days of service. Those interrogatories would require disclosure of assets, financial institutions, real property, and personal property. If responses are not provided, a contempt proceeding may be initiated.

How long do Judgments last?

A ten-year limitations period Tadacip exists generally for all judgments under Minnesota Statutes sections 541.04 and 548.09, subdivision 1 (2008), and a ten-year limitations period exists specifically for spousal maintenance judgments under section 548.091, subdivision 2 (2008). By contrast, Minnesota Statutes Section 548.091 allows child support judgments to be renewed indefinitely. In fact, an expedited process is available for renewing child support judgments which requires child support judgment renewals simply by service of notice upon the debtor by certified mail. The creditor then files the notice and proof of service with the court administrator to renew the judgment without any additional filing fee.

In the past, the law seemed to suggest that only one renewal of a judgment unrelated to child support was possible. However, a case decided by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on July 6, 2010, now establishes that a spousal support judgment and any other judgment may be renewed indefinitely.

Under Minnesota Statutes sections 541.04, 548.09, and 548.091, judgment creditors were required to commence actions on judgments within ten years after the entry of each judgment. However, serial actions on a judgment for nonpayment of spousal maintenance or other obligations were not permitted. In the July 6, 2010, the Court of Appeals decided the case Linda Dahlin and Randall Kroening, allowing a serial action on a spousal maintenance judgment.

In the divorce case between the parties in 1978, the Court awarded Dahlin spousal maintenance. Kroening did not pay. In 1988, Dahlin brought an action on that judgment and obtained a new judgment for the arrearages. That judgment also went unpaid, so Dahlin brought a new action in 1998 and obtained a new judgment. In 2008 Dahlin filed an action on the 1998 judgment for a new judgment, but the district court denied Dahlin’s complaint, believing that a spousal maintenance judgment could not be renewed more than once. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed that decision stating that a renewed judgment carries no less weight than any other judgment and a judgment creditor can obtain a new judgment by civil action within ten years of the entry of an existing judgment. This decision essentially allows a judgment, including a judgment on spousal support, to be renewed indefinitely so long as proper action is taken before the previous judgment expires at the end of ten years.

Author Bio: Maury D. Beaulier is a recognized leader in Minnesota family law including the establishment and collection of spousal maintenance and child support. He can be reached at http://www.divorceprofessionals.com or by calling 612.240.8005

Category: Legal
Keywords: spousal supoprt, spousla maintenance, minnesota spousal support judgments, judgment collection, spousal maintenance collection, alimony