§ 31.002.Collection of Judgment Through Court Proceeding

The most heavily used section in this chapter, and the principal post-judgment collection tool in Texas.

A judgment creditor is entitled to aid from a court of appropriate jurisdiction, including a justice court, through injunction or other means, in order to reach property to obtain satisfaction on the judgment where the debtor owns property, including present or future rights to property, that is not exempt.

"Present or future rights to property" is what makes the statute powerful. It reaches contingent interests, accounts receivable and rights that have not yet matured — property ordinary execution cannot touch.

Three orders are available. Order the debtor to turn over nonexempt property, together with all documents or records related to it, to a designated sheriff or constable for execution; otherwise apply the property to the judgment; or appoint a receiver with authority to take possession of the property, sell it, and pay the proceeds to the creditor.

The receivership is the strongest of the three, because it puts a person with authority between the debtor and the asset rather than relying on the debtor to comply.

Enforcement is by contempt proceedings or other appropriate means. That is the statute’s teeth — a turnover order is a personal command, and disobeying it exposes the debtor directly.

The motion may be made in the same proceeding in which the judgment was rendered or in an independent proceeding, and the creditor is entitled to recover reasonable costs, including attorney’s fees.

Subsection (f) is the essential protection: no order may require the turnover of the proceeds of, or the disbursement of, exempt property, including property exempt under the Property Code — and the exception is child support.

Two further refinements close the section. A receiver’s rights against property held by a financial institution do not attach until the institution is served with a certified copy of the receivership order in the manner the Finance Code specifies. And an order may require turnover without identifying the specific property.

That last provision answers a real difficulty. A creditor rarely knows what the debtor owns, and requiring the order to name the assets would defeat the remedy in most cases.