§ 25-1567.Discovery of property of debtor; examination; debtor's incriminating answers; not privileged; immunity.
Article 15: Execution, Exemptions, and Foreign Judgments · Not amended since original codification · Last verified July 22, 2026
Full Text of § 25-1567
Source
R.S.1867, Code § 536, p. 488; R.S.1913, § 8115; C.S.1922, § 9051; C.S.1929, § 20-1569; R.S.1943, § 25-1567.
Plain-English Summary
A debtor being examined about property under sections 25-1564 through 25-1580 might have a strong incentive to stay quiet: an honest answer could reveal that the debtor hid assets or transferred property to dodge the judgment, conduct that could amount to fraud. Section 25-1567 closes off that incentive to stonewall, while also protecting the debtor from self-incrimination.
No person examined under these sections can refuse to answer a question on the ground that the answer would tend to show fraud. The examination cannot be blocked by a claim that honesty will be self-incriminating in that sense. In exchange, the statute grants a form of use immunity: the debtor’s answer cannot be used as evidence against the debtor in a prosecution for that fraud.
This trade-off serves the examination’s core purpose. A creditor investigating hidden or improperly transferred assets needs candid answers, and a debtor who could refuse to answer whenever the truth was unflattering would defeat that purpose. By removing the debtor’s ability to invoke a fraud-based privilege while barring prosecutors from using the compelled testimony, the statute gets at the truth about the debtor’s property without exposing the debtor to a fraud conviction built on that testimony.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a judgment debtor refuse to answer questions during the examination by claiming the answer would show fraud?
No. Section 25-1567 states that no person may be excused from answering on the ground that the examination will tend to convict them of fraud.
What protection does the debtor get in exchange for having to answer?
The debtor’s answer cannot be used as evidence against the debtor in a prosecution for that fraud.
Does this immunity cover every crime, or only fraud connected to hiding assets from the judgment?
Which proceedings does this immunity apply to?
Why would the law force a debtor to answer instead of allowing silence?
Because the examination exists to uncover assets a debtor may be unjustly withholding from the judgment, and allowing debtors to refuse whenever an honest answer looked bad would undercut that purpose.
Does this section stop the judgment creditor from using the debtor’s answer to find and collect assets?
No. The immunity only bars use of the answer as evidence in a fraud prosecution; it does not stop the creditor from pursuing the property the answer reveals.