How Do I Get a Judgment Lin in Missouri?

Full question:

My wife has a consent judgement against her former spouse in a matter of $50k+ arrears pension payments he owes to her. However his assets are in joint ownership with his current spouse and he refuses to agree on a repayment plan. Is there any way to perfect a lien on the husbands assets in Missouri?

• Category: Judgment Liens
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Missouri

Answer:

A judgment lien is created when a court grants a creditor an interest in the debtor's property, based upon a court judgment. A judgment lien can be filed if an actual judgment in a lawsuit is obtained from a court. In some circumstances, judgments can be enforced by sale of property until the amount due is satisfied. A plaintiff who obtains a monetary judgment is termed a "judgment creditor." The defendant becomes a "judgment debtor." If the judgment remains unpaid, the judgment debtor may request that the court place a lien on the judgment debtor's property, such as bank accounts or real property owned, to secure payment of the claim to the injured party. After the judgment creditor places a lien upon the attached property, the next step in the collection process is to conduct a sale of the attached property to satisfy the judgment debt.

A judgment creditor may also request that the court issue a writ for garnishment of the debtor's wages. If granted, the court order for garnishment is served directly upon the debtor's employer, who must comply with its terms. Wage garnishment is a legal procedure governed by state law in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt and paid directly to the judgment creditor by the debtor's employer. There are different types of garnishments, as defined by state laws, which vary by state. A garnishment may be made on a one-time or continuing basis. Some kinds of income are exempt, which means that they cannot be garnished at all by creditors for consumer debts, including welfare, unemployment, veterans benefits, Social security, workers' compensation, pensions, and child support payments that you receive. For ordinary garnishments (i.e., those not for support, bankruptcy, or any state or federal tax), the weekly amount may not exceed the lesser of two figures: 25 percent of the employee's disposable earnings, or the amount by which an employee's disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage.

Please see the following MO statutes:

511.350. Liens on real estate established by judgment or decrees
in courts of record, exception — associate circuit court,
procedure required — no administrative amendments. —

1. Judgments and decrees entered by the supreme court, by any
United States district or circuit court held within this state, by
any district of the court of appeals, by any circuit court and any
probate division of the circuit court, except judgments and decrees
rendered by associate, small claims and municipal divisions of the
circuit courts, shall be liens on the real estate of the person
against whom they are entered, situate in the county for which or
in which the court is held.

2. Judgments and decrees rendered by the associate divisions of
the circuit courts shall not be liens on the real estate of the
person against whom they are rendered until such judgments or
decrees are filed with the clerk of the circuit court pursuant to
sections 517.141 and 517.151, RSMo.

3. Judgments and decrees entered by the small claims and
municipal divisions of the circuit court shall not constitute
liens against the real estate of the person against whom they are
rendered.

4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no judgments or
decrees entered by any court of competent jurisdiction may be
amended or modified by any administrative agency without the
approval of a court of competent jurisdiction.

5. Notwithstanding subsection 4 of this section or any other law
to the contrary, no judgments or decrees entered by any court of
competent jurisdiction relating to child support orders may be
amended or modified by any administrative agency without the
approval of a court of competent jurisdiction.

511.360. Commencement, extent and duration of lien — applicability of
duration of lien. —

The lien of a judgment or decree shall extend as well to the
real estate acquired after the rendition thereof, as to that which
was owned when the judgment or decree was rendered. Such liens
shall commence on the day of the rendition of the judgment, and
shall continue for ten years, subject to be revived as herein
provided; but when two or more judgments or decrees are rendered at
the same term, as between the parties entitled to such judgments
or decrees, the lien shall commence on the last day of the term at
which they are rendered. The provisions of this section relating
to the duration of the lien on real estate shall apply only to
judgments or decrees rendered or revived after August 28, 1998,
and, for all judgments or decrees entered prior to such date, the
lien of such judgment or decree shall continue for three years
from the date such lien commenced.

511.440. Transcript of judgment a lien in another county, when —
procedure. —

1. Judgments and decrees obtained in the supreme court or any
district of the court of appeals or any United States court or any
court of record in this state shall, upon the filing of a
transcript thereof in the office of the clerk of the circuit court
of any other county and indexing of such transcript as provided in
subsection 2 of this section, be a lien upon the real estate of
the person against whom such judgment or decree is rendered,
situate in the county in which such transcript is filed.

2. Such judgment or decree as provided in subsection 1 of this
section shall be entered in the record kept by the clerk of the
circuit court having jurisdiction of civil causes within a county
or a city not within a county, for judgments and decrees of the
circuit court of such county as provided in section 511.500,
except that the record of entry of such judgment or decree shall
also include the name and location of the court that rendered such
judgment or decree.

511.470. Such liens to have the force of other judgment liens. —

The lien created by sections 511.440 to 511.480 shall exist to
the same extent and for the same time only as the lien of the
judgment or decree in the county where the same was rendered; and
a transcript of a judgment or decree reviving a judgment or
decree, or the lien thereof, may be filed, docketed and recorded
in the same manner and with like effect as an original judgment or
decree.

513.015. Executions, who may have. —

The party in whose favor any judgment, order or decree is
rendered, may have an execution in conformity therewith.

513.020. Executions may issue, when. —

Executions may issue upon a judgment at any time within ten
years after the rendition of such judgment.
513.085. Execution to be lien, when. —

No execution prior to the levy thereof shall be a lien on any
goods, chattels or other personal property, or the rights or
shares in any stock, or any real estate to which the lien of the
judgment, order or decree does not extend; and whenever an
execution shall be levied upon real estate, not then charged with
the lien of the judgment, order or decree upon which such
execution issued, it shall be the duty of the officer making such
levy immediately to file with the recorder of deeds of the city or
county in which such real estate is situated a notice of such
levy, showing the date and style of the execution, the date of
levy, the amount of the debt and costs, and a description of the
real estate levied upon, which shall be recorded and indexed in a
separate volume by the recorder, in the same manner that deeds to
real estate are required to be recorded and indexed in a separate
volume, and the recording fee therefor shall be charged and
collected as other costs; and the failure of said officer to file
said notice, as required by this chapter, shall be a breach of his
official bond, and any person injured by the failure of the
sheriff to file said notice shall have a right of action on said
bond.