§ 31.006.Revival of Judgment

A short section with a hard deadline, and the deadline is the part that ends judgments.

A dormant judgment may be revived by scire facias or by an action of debt brought not later than the second anniversary of the date that the judgment becomes dormant.

A judgment becomes dormant when no writ of execution issues within the period the execution chapter sets, and a dormant judgment cannot be enforced — no execution issues on it.

Revival restores its enforceability. The judgment was never extinguished; it went to sleep, and this wakes it.

Two years is the whole window, and it is measured from dormancy rather than from the judgment or from any later event.

Missing it is final. A judgment not revived within two years of becoming dormant cannot be enforced at all, and the creditor’s only remaining recourse is whatever the debtor pays voluntarily.

Two routes are given. Scire facias is the traditional writ requiring the debtor to show cause why the judgment should not be revived. An action of debt is a separate suit on the judgment.

Scire facias is the ordinary route, and it is faster: it revives the existing judgment rather than producing a new one.

The practical lesson is about diligence rather than deadlines. The way to avoid this section is to keep a judgment alive by issuing execution within the period, which costs little and preserves everything.