Full question:
We won a judgment in Smith County Small claims Court for the return of our dog. The defendants have yet to return the dog to us. We did issue a writ yesterday from the Smith County Small Claims Court. The problem is the person who stole our dog lives in West Virgina. They came to Indiana and returned to West Virginia with our dog. Are we going to have to take the judgment into the court in West Virginia? Are we going to have to sue again in the small claims court in there? We have a damage/compliance hearing on March 27th, 2009 in Smith County. The person we won the judgment against is from West Virginia.
- Category: Judgments
- Subcategory: Foreign Judgments
- Date:
- State: Indiana
Answer:
West Virginia has adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. This means you can file an authenticated copy of your out-of-state judgment in any circuit court in West Virginia, and it will be enforced as if it were issued by that court. Specifically, under West Virginia law (W. Va. Code § 55-14-2), the clerk will treat your foreign judgment the same as a local judgment, and it will have the same legal effects and procedures for enforcement. You will need to provide the name and address of the judgment debtor when filing (W. Va. Code § 55-14-3). Note that enforcement cannot begin until thirty days after filing. If the debtor appeals the judgment or seeks a stay, the court may pause enforcement (W. Va. Code § 55-14-4). You also have the option to bring a new action to enforce your judgment instead of using the filing process (W. Va. Code § 55-14-6). For more information on legal templates, users can search for state-specific legal templates at .This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.