Rule 69.Execution Discovery

Winning a judgment is only half the job; collecting on it is the other half, and that often requires finding out what the debtor owns, where it is, and who else might be holding it. Rule 69 answers that need by opening up the full discovery toolkit -- depositions, interrogatories, requests for production, and the rest -- to a judgment creditor acting in aid of a judgment or execution. The creditor can direct that discovery not only at the judgment debtor but at any other person who might have relevant information, such as a bank, an employer, or a third party holding the debtor's property.

The right to use this discovery is not limited to the original judgment creditor. A successor in interest can invoke Rule 69 too, as long as that succession appears of record, so an assignment of the judgment does not cut off access to post-judgment discovery.

Rule 69 works alongside, rather than in place of, the separate statutory action for discovery in aid of execution. It does not replace that independent proceeding, though it does take over the ground once covered by an overlapping statutory provision. In practice, Rule 69 is usually the more direct route, since it lets the creditor use the same discovery mechanisms already familiar from the rest of the case rather than starting a new proceeding.