§ 491.190.Court Orders At Conclusion of Proceeding
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 11. Attaching Plaintiff's Miscellaneous Remedies · Article 1. Examination of Third Person · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 491.190 lets the court, at the conclusion of an examination, order the defendant's interest in the property or debt attached or delivered to the levying officer and creates a one-year lien, or determine the third person's liability if the property was already attached, unless the third person's adverse claim was left undecided under § 491.170.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (b), at the conclusion of a proceeding pursuant to this article:
(1)The court may order the defendant's interest in the property in the possession or under the control of the third person or a debt owed by the third person to the defendant to be attached in the manner and under the conditions provided by this title or to be delivered or paid to the levying officer if the levying officer has a writ of attachment permitting the attachment of the property or debt. After the property or debt has been attached, the order may be enforced as provided in Section 491.360. The order creates a lien on the property or debt. The lien continues for a period of one year from the date of the order unless the court extends or reduces the period of the existence of the lien.
(2)If the property or debt has previously been attached, the court may make an order determining the third person's liability, and the order may be enforced as provided in Section 491.360.
(b)If a third person examined pursuant to this article claims an interest in the property adverse to the defendant or denies the debt and the court does not determine the matter as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 491.170, the court may not make an order under subdivision (a) of this section, but may make an order pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 491.170 forbidding transfer or payment to the extent authorized by that section.
Plain-English Summary
Once an examination proceeding wraps up, § 491.190(a) tells the court what to do with what it learned. If the property or debt was not already attached, the court may order the defendant's interest attached under this title's ordinary rules, or delivered or paid directly to the levying officer if a writ already covers it; the resulting order can be enforced under § 491.360 and creates a lien lasting one year unless the court extends or shortens it.
If the property or debt was already attached before the examination, subdivision (a)(2) instead lets the court determine the third person's liability, again enforceable under § 491.360.
Subdivision (b) is the exception: if a third person claimed an adverse interest or denied the debt and the court chose not to resolve that dispute under § 491.170(a) -- because it fell into one of that section's good-faith carve-outs -- the court cannot make an attachment order here. It can only fall back on the interim forbid-transfer relief available under § 491.170(c) or (d).
Frequently Asked Questions
What can the court order once an examination proceeding concludes?
Section 491.190(a) lets the court order the defendant's interest attached or delivered to the levying officer, creating a one-year lien, or, if the property was already attached, determine the third person's liability.
What happens if the third person's claim to the property was never resolved during the examination?
Section 491.190(b) bars an attachment order under subdivision (a) in that situation, limiting the court to the forbid-transfer relief available under § 491.170(c) or (d).
How long does the lien created at the end of an examination proceeding last?
Section 491.190(a)(1) sets it at one year from the date of the order, unless the court extends or reduces that period.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1198, Sec. 57. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 70 of Ch. 1198.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:lien created after examination proceeding californiaattachment order after third person examination