§ 36A.009.Statute of Limitations

A limitations rule with two limbs, and the earlier of them governs.

An action to recognize a foreign-country judgment must be brought within the earlier of the time during which the foreign-country judgment is effective in the foreign country, or 15 years from the date the judgment became effective in the foreign country.

The first limb defers to the rendering country. A judgment that has expired where it was rendered cannot be recognized here, which prevents Texas giving life to something already dead at home.

That limb requires proof of foreign law, since the duration of a judgment abroad is a question the Texas court must be shown the answer to.

The second limb is the outer boundary. Fifteen years from effectiveness, regardless of how long the judgment lasts in the rendering country.

The cap exists because some systems keep judgments alive far longer than Texas would, and the section declines to extend Texas recognition indefinitely on that basis.

"The earlier of" is what makes the two work together. A judgment lasting ten years abroad must be recognized within ten; one lasting thirty must be recognized within fifteen.

Both periods run from effectiveness in the foreign country, not from rendition, from finality here, or from the debtor acquiring Texas assets.

The period is generous by comparison with most Texas limitations, which reflects the reality that a creditor may not discover the debtor has assets here until years later.

Note what the section governs: an action to recognize. Recognition raised defensively in someone else’s suit is not an action, which is a point worth keeping in view where the period has run.