You hold a judgment from a court in a state other than Texas. But, your judgment debtor either dwells in Texas or possesses assets in Texas. Is there anything you can do to collect your judgment in Texas? Yes, you can. You have two alternatives for collecting your judgment in Texas. The first is by far the fastest and simplest way. And, it's something you can do without an attorney. The second method is more complex. The second method involves the aid of an attorney. I'll talk about the details of the first method.
The Affidavit Procedure
The easiest way to collect a sister-state judgment in Texas is the affidavit method. Texas adheres to the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. Under this Act, you simply file a copy of your sister-state judgment with any court of competent jurisdiction. In addition to the judgment, you must file an affidavit giving your name and address and the name and last known address of your judgment debtor.
Before a Texas court will receive your judgment filing and affidavit, you must properly authenticate your judgment. This essentially means there is evidence that your judgment is actually what it purports to be. To say it in another way, there must be prove that your judgment is a real, bona fide and unquestionable judgment given by a court in your state. The Texas Rules of Evidence state that some documents are self-authenticated. A self-authenticated document is one in which the authenticity of the document is apparent from the document itself. Self-authenticated documents are assumed to be genuine and reliable.
In the situation involving your sister-state judgment, you can establish the judgment as a self-authenticating document as defined by the Texas Rules of Evidence. To do you so, you simply get a certified copy of your judgment from the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment. So, instead of copying your judgment and attaching it to the affidavit, you ask the clerk of the court that issued the judgment to furnish you a certified copy of that judgment. Attach the certified copy to your affidavit and file both with a Texas court of competent jurisdiction.
Competent Jurisdiction
Your judgment and affidavit must be filed in a Texas court of competent jurisdiction. There are potentially four different courts in Texas where you can file your judgment. They are the Justice Court, the County Court, the County Court at Law and the District Court. You will have to ascertain the proper court for your judgment. To make that decision, you must understand the phrase competent jurisdiction.
In an overly simplistic explanation, think of Texas Court jurisdiction in civil matters (i.e., non-criminal cases) as being separated by money. This means that every court in Texas has jurisdiction in civil matters based on the amount of money at issue. It breaks down as follows:
Justice Court - up to a maximum of $10,000
County Court - $200 - $10,000
County Court at Law - $200 - $100,000
District Court - $200 and up
So, to find the court of competent jurisdiction for your sister-state judgment, you just need to look first to the amount of your judgment. If, for instance, your judgment is for $5,000, you can select to file the judgment and affidavit in either a Justice Court, County Court, County Court at Law or District Court. But, if your judgment is for $15,000 you can only file it in the County Court at Law or District Court.
Once you determine the court of competent jurisdiction, you need to find the proper county for filing. The proper county for filing is either the Texas county in which your judgment debtor lives or the county in which he has assets.
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