Rule 69.Execution.
Current through February 2024 · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 69
Amendment History
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Plain-English Summary
The default process for collecting a judgment for the payment of money is a writ of execution. The opening sentence carries an escape hatch worth noticing: unless the court directs otherwise. The writ is the ordinary route, not the only one, and the judge can direct a different process for enforcing the judgment.
For the mechanics, the rule points outward. Procedure on execution, in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of a judgment, and in proceedings on and in aid of execution follows the applicable statutes rather than anything set out here. Rule 69 supplies the form of process, not the steps for running it.
The last sentence is the practical tool. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor, or a successor in interest when that interest appears of record, may examine any person, the judgment debtor included, in the manner these rules provide for taking depositions. That is how a creditor finds out where the money and the assets sit after judgment has entered.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I collect a money judgment from the Rhode Island Family Court?
The process to enforce a judgment for the payment of money is a writ of execution. Rule 69 makes that the default form of process for collection.
Is a writ of execution the only way to enforce a money judgment?
No. The writ is the process unless the court directs otherwise, which leaves the judge free to order a different method of enforcement in a given case.
Can I question the other party about their assets after judgment?
Yes. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor may examine any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in these rules for taking depositions.
Can someone other than the original creditor enforce the judgment?
Rule 69 addresses only one piece of that. A successor in interest, when that interest appears of record, may examine any person, including the judgment debtor, in aid of the judgment or execution, in the manner these rules provide for depositions. The rule does not otherwise say who may enforce the judgment.
What governs supplementary proceedings after judgment?
Applicable statutes. Rule 69 sends the procedure on execution, proceedings supplementary to and in aid of a judgment, and proceedings on and in aid of execution to those statutes instead of laying out steps of its own.