If at any time following entry of judgment, a judgment debtor fails for any reason to make a payment in a timely fashion according to the terms of this article, the judgment creditor may petition the court which rendered the original judgment for an order requiring payment by the judgment debtor of the outstanding payments in a lump sum. In calculating the amount of the lump sum judgment, the court shall total the remaining periodic payments due and owing to the judgment creditor, as calculated pursuant to subdivision (e) of section five thousand forty-one of this article, and shall not convert these amounts to their present value. The court may also require the payment of interest on the outstanding judgment.
§ 5044.Failure to make payment.
Article 50-B. Periodic Payment of Judgments in Personal Injury, Injury to Property and Wrongful Death Actions · Last amended 1999 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 5044 lets a judgment creditor petition the court for a lump-sum award, plus possible interest, of every remaining periodic payment owed, calculated without any present-value discount, if the judgment debtor misses a payment.
Full Text of CPLR 5044
Plain-English Summary
Structured judgments only work if the debtor keeps paying on schedule. This section gives the creditor a remedy when that stops happening: petition the court that entered the original judgment for a lump-sum order covering all the outstanding payments.
The math favors the creditor here. The court totals the remaining periodic payments as calculated under CPLR 5041(e) and does not convert them to present value — the debtor doesn't get a discount for the time value of money after missing payments. The court can add interest on top of the outstanding amount.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can a judgment creditor do if a defendant misses a periodic payment in New York?
Petition the court that rendered the original judgment for a lump-sum order covering the remaining unpaid periodic payments.
Is the lump-sum award under CPLR 5044 discounted to present value?
No. The court totals the remaining periodic payments as originally calculated and pays that full amount — it doesn't convert them to present value on a missed payment.
Can the court award interest on top of the missed payments?
Yes. Section 5044 lets the court also require the judgment debtor to pay interest on the outstanding judgment.
Does the creditor have to file a new lawsuit to get this remedy?
No. The creditor petitions the same court that rendered the original judgment, rather than starting a separate action.
Why doesn't the debtor get a present-value discount on the accelerated payments?
Present-value discounting exists to account for the time value of money the debtor hasn't yet had to pay. Once the debtor defaults, that benefit ends and the creditor recovers the full remaining amount.
Advisory Committee Notes
The Committee recommends the amendment of CPLR 5034 and 5044 to correct what appears to have been a typographical error in both statutes’ reference to the provisions of CPLR 5031 and 5041 dealing with future periodic payments of damages in excess of $250.000.
Articles 50-A and B of the CPLR set forth the procedures to be followed when a defendant is required to pay a judgment in certain types of tort cases by means of periodic payments. Article 50-A governs the use of periodic payments in connection with medical and dental malpractice actions; Article 50-B governs the use of periodic payments in connection with personal injury, injury to property, and wrongful death actions.
There appears to be an error in CPLR 5034 and 5044, two statutes that are nearly identical and that deal with the penalty imposed upon a defendant who fails to make a periodic payment in the cases mentioned above. Both statutes provide that upon defendants failure to pay, the judgment creditor may petition the court for an order “requiring payment by the judgment debtor of the outstanding payments in a lump sum.” The statutes provide that in calculating the amount of the lump sum judgment, the court shall total the remaining periodic payments due, as calculated pursuant to subdivision (b) of sections 5031 and 5041, and shall not convert those payments to their present value. The court may also require the payment of interest on the outstanding judgment.
Subdivision (b) of sections 5031 and 5041 is not the section that deals with future periodic payments, but rather deals with the payment of past damages in a lump sum. It would seem that the drafters intended to refer to subdivision (e) of sections 5031 and 5041, since that subdivision deals with future periodic payments. The Committee therefore recommends that this technical error be corrected by substituting subdivision “e” for “b” in both sections 5034 and 5044.
Amendment History
Add, L 1986, ch 682, § 9, eff July 30, 1986; amd, L 1999, ch 446, § 2, eff Aug 31, 1999.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: missed periodic payment judgment New Yorkdefault structured settlement NYfailure to make payment 50-Blump sum acceleration judgmentstructured judgment default remedy