While the Phantom of the Opera was a work of fiction, the phantom discharge is the real deal. If you are collecting a judgment in California, generally all property that is acquired during the course of a marriage belongs jointly to both spouses, even if only one...
California Commercial Debt Collection Blog
Asset Protection Strategies Gone Awry
Asset protection is a set of legal techniques and a body of statutory and common law dealing with lawfully protecting assets of individuals and business entities from civil money judgments. The goal of all lawful asset protection planning is to lawfully insulate as...
The Specifics of a Power of Attorney
When it comes to dealing with a power of attorney, it is important to note that the terminology used by the parties isn't controlling. In other words, for the debtor to simply state that a power is coupled with an interest in the power of attorney doesn't make it so....
Irrevocable Powers of Attorney
The lengths to which a judgment debtor will go to avoid collection is shocking to some, but not to an experienced commercial collections attorney. One tool not often used by the debtor, and challenging in its intricacies, is the irrevocable power of attorney,...
The Right to Attach: Collecting a Judgment
We recently discussed the right to attach, a provisional remedy that enables creditors to preserve the value of potential judgments after a court action is filed but before it has been concluded. The attachment remedy allows commercial creditors holding unsecured...
Right to Attach Order: A Pre-Judgment Remedy
Writs of Attachment are handy tools to tie up assets at the start of a commercial collections lawsuit so that when you have your judgment you still have something to collect upon (more on writs of attachment can be found here). However, a smart collection attorney...
Hearsay When Moving for Summary Judgment
In this post, we discussed the value of a motion for summary judgment in a commercial collection case where the claims litigated relate to failure to pay on a written instrument. We touched on the need for the client to provide declarations in the form of business...
The Business Records Exception and the Almighty Summary Judgment
For many types of commercial collection cases, the claims litigated relate to failure to pay on an instrument, i.e., a promissory note, a line of credit, a personal guaranty, or breach of a contract to pay certain amounts. It follows that the goal of litigation is to...
How to Collect a Judgment Against a Non-Debtor Spouse
Now that we have established that a creditor may look to a non-debtor spouse and community property to collect a judgment, we will discuss the various legal opportunities for doing so. Non-Debtor Spouse Wages One of the easiest community property assets to look...
Is Debt Community Property in California?
Have you attempted to collect a judgment against an individual to no success? One option is to consider the means of the spouse. California is a community property state, meaning the community property of a debtor's spouse or domestic partner may be available to...