§ 9-13-78.Control of execution after payment — By joint debtor

When a judgment runs against several people jointly, the burden of paying it does not always split evenly in practice — one debtor may end up covering more than his fair share while the others pay less or nothing. This section gives that overpaying debtor a way to even the score without starting a new lawsuit. He may control and use the execution against the principals or cosureties, the same way a security who pays off an execution can under the preceding Code section, by having his payment entered on the execution issued to enforce the judgment.

That entry is what activates the debtor's control. Once the excess payment is noted on the execution, the paying debtor can use that same execution to pursue the codebtors for the amount he covered beyond his own proportionate share, rather than treating the execution as fully spent and satisfied.

The statute is explicit that a separate lawsuit is not required. The paying debtor shall not be compelled to bring an action against the codebtors for the excess of payment on the judgment — the entry-on-the-execution mechanism stands in for that separate suit, letting him recover through the same collection machinery already in place.