Motion to Avoid Judicial Lien

A judgment lien on the personal property described in section 697.530 is created by filing a notice of judgment lien with the Secretary of State, only for a money judgment first entered in California after June 30, 1983…

Except as otherwise provided by statute, a judgment lien on real property is created by recording an abstract of a money judgment with the county recorder and, unless the judgment is satisfied or the lien released,…

An abstract of a money judgment, certified by the clerk, must state the court and case, the date of entry and any renewals, the judgment debtor's name and last known address and the address where the summons was served…

Except as section 704.950 provides, a judgment lien on real property attaches to all interests in real property in the county where it is created that are subject to enforcement against the judgment debtor, present or…

A filed judgment lien on personal property reaches the debtor's interests in accounts receivable and chattel paper (debtor located in California) and equipment, farm products, inventory and negotiable documents of title…

The California homestead exemption is the greater of a statutory floor or the countywide median sale price for a single-family home, capped at a statutory ceiling, and both figures are ADJUSTED ANNUALLY FOR INFLATION.

Except as otherwise provided by statute, on expiration of 10 years after entry of a money judgment the judgment may not be enforced, all enforcement procedures cease, and any lien created by an enforcement procedure is…

California has opted out of the federal exemptions (§703.130), so the choice is the ordinary §704 exemptions or the §703.140(b) set: federal-style, larger wildcard, smaller homestead.

The motor vehicle exemption under the section 704 system, to the amount the section states. Compare against the 703.140 vehicle exemption when advising on the election.

Connecticut rule that a money judgment may be enforced against any property of the judgment debtor unless the property is exempt under sections 52-352a, 52-352b, 52-352d or 52-361a, other statutes or federal law, by…

Connecticut rule that, except for a consumer judgment, a judgment lien may be placed on nonexempt personal property in which a security interest could be perfected by filing, by filing a judgment lien certificate with…

Connecticut rule that a judgment lien securing a money judgment, with interest and costs, is placed on real property by recording a signed judgment lien certificate (naming creditor and debtor, the court, judgment date,…

Connecticut rule that a judgment lien that has expired for failure to meet the time limits of section 52-380a is automatically extinguished, and its continued appearance unreleased on the record does not affect the…

Connecticut rule that a judgment lien on real or personal property is released by a signed writing of the lienholder, its attorney or the personal representative who signed the certificate stating that the lien is…

CONNECTICUT'S EXEMPTIONS, and unlike Pennsylvania this state HAS A REAL HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION. Subdivision (21) exempts the exemptioner's homestead, measured as fair market value less any statutory or consensual lien;

Connecticut rule that on satisfaction of a judgment the creditor must release any judgment liens of record by mailing a sufficient release to the debtor and any interested person who asks, and a creditor that fails to…

Connecticut rule that real estate is attached by the officer leaving with the town clerk of the town where it lies a signed certificate of attachment describing the land and specifying the parties, the issuing…

Connecticut definitions for the postjudgment procedures chapter, including "consumer judgment" (a money judgment of less than five thousand dollars against a natural person on a consumer debt), "money judgment"…

The defined terms behind the exemption list, including exempt property, homestead and necessary. 'Homestead' is defined by owner-occupancy, which decides whether the exemption is available at all.

Delaware rule that the head-of-family exemptions from judgment lien, execution or forced sale may be claimed by both spouses jointly, by either with the other's written consent, or half by each, but both spouses may not…

Delaware rule that the lien timing rules of §§ 4702 to 4706 do not extend to judgments before a justice of the peace or of the Court of Common Pleas.

Delaware rule that no money judgment entered or recorded in the Superior Court, whether rendered there or transferred from a justice of the peace, the Court of Common Pleas or the Supreme Court, continues as a lien on…

Delaware rule that when a judgment's lien on real estate is lost or interrupted and the judgment is later revived by scire facias, the revived judgment is a lien on the defendant's real estate only from the time of…

Delaware rule that transcripts of judgments of the United States District Court or other federal courts in Delaware are liens on real estate in another county only when filed and docketed with that county's…

The specific personal property exempt from execution, attachment and distress for rent: the family Bible, school books and family library, family pictures, a church seat or pew, a burial lot, and all wearing apparel of…

The additional exemption for a head of family, on the terms and amount the section sets. Check whether the client qualifies before computing exposure.

Retirement plans, life insurance contracts and annuity contracts are exempt on the terms the section states. Often the largest asset a Delaware debtor keeps; read the conditions.

Delaware exemption, in addition to §§ 4902 and 4903, for assets in and proceeds from section 529 tuition accounts and 529A ABLE accounts up to the contribution limits of the Internal Revenue Code, except contributions…

Delaware rule that a judgment binds lands only from the time it is actually entered or signed, and not by relation back to the first day of the term.

A mortgage, deed of trust, assignment for the benefit of creditors, or bill of sale on exempt articles is void unless signed by the spouse or domestic partner of a debtor living with that spouse or partner, but this…

District of Columbia text: when personal property taken on Superior Court execution is claimed by a third person, or claimed by the defendant as exempt, and written notice is given to the marshal, the marshal notifies…

District of Columbia text: a mortgage or deed of trust given by a purchaser to secure all or part of the purchase money for real property is superior to the lien of an earlier judgment or decree against the purchaser.

A money judgment becomes a lien only from the date it is filed and recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds, and it then attaches to all freehold and leasehold estates, legal and equitable, in any land in DC,…

District of Columbia text: an order of revival issued within twelve years of the judgment or of a prior revival extends the judgment, its lien and all enforcement remedies for twelve years from the revival order.

District of Columbia text: a writ of fieri facias may be levied on the debtor's non-exempt goods and chattels, money, bills, checks, notes, bonds and stock certificates, and, on a District or Superior Court judgment, on…

The District's exemption list for a head of family or householder: $2,575 in one motor vehicle, $425 per item and $8,625 in aggregate in household goods and wearing apparel, an $850 wildcard plus up to $8,075 of the…

Non-wage earnings, insurance, annuities and pension or retirement payments are exempt up to $200 per month for a person who provides the principal support of a family, and only $60 per month for a person who does not,…

A final money judgment or decree of the Superior Court or the U.S. District Court for DC, once filed and recorded with the Recorder of Deeds, is ENFORCEABLE BY EXECUTION FOR TWELVE YEARS ONLY from the date execution…

Every estate granted to two or more persons in their own right, including to spouses or domestic partners, is a tenancy in common unless expressly declared to be a joint tenancy;

Southern District of Florida bankruptcy local rule requiring a section 522(f) motion to avoid a lien on exempt property to give a full legal description of the property as recorded by the clerk of the circuit court and…

Florida text providing that a judgment, order, or decree becomes a lien on real property in a county when a certified copy is recorded in the official records or judgment lien record, only if it contains the…

Florida text allowing a judgment holder to acquire a judgment lien on the debtor's interest in personal property subject to execution under section 56.061 and in payment intangibles and accounts (excluding fixtures,…

Florida text listing what an original judgment lien certificate must include, such as the debtor's legal name and last known address, the creditor's name and address, the court, case number, and judgment date, the…

Official Middle District of Florida clerk's procedure guide for the motion to avoid lien docketing event, which the page says was implemented February 9, 2016 and last revised July 26, 2018;

The personal property exemptions, including a motor vehicle to the stated value, health aids, and the $4,000 personal property exemption available to a debtor who does NOT claim the homestead exemption.

Florida text providing that, subject to section 55.10, no judgment, order, or decree is a lien on real or personal property in Florida after 20 years from its entry.

Northern District of Florida bankruptcy local rule providing that a motion to avoid a lien under section 522(f) and Bankruptcy Rule 4003(d) may name only one creditor, with a separate motion for each creditor, served…

The wages of a HEAD OF FAMILY are exempt from garnishment, entirely up to the statutory weekly amount and beyond it only with the debtor's written agreement, with a narrower federal-style limit for others.

Pension, retirement and profit-sharing benefits are exempt on the section's terms. Often the largest asset a Florida debtor keeps.

Maryland Rule: on receiving a certified or authenticated copy of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, another circuit court, a federal court or another court entitled to full faith and credit, the circuit…

Property spouses held as tenants by the entirety and then conveyed to a trustee, plus its traceable proceeds, keeps the same immunity from the claims of the separate creditors of each spouse as if they had continued to…

Maryland text: a writ of execution on a money judgment does not become a lien on the defendant's personal property until an actual levy is made, and the lien extends only to the property levied on.

Maryland text: the subtitle's exemption provisions do not impair a vendor's purchase-money lien on land, a mechanics' lien, a tax lien, a mortgage, deed of trust or other security interest, or a recorded…

Maryland text defining terms for the judgment-lien subtitle: court includes the federal district and bankruptcy courts for Maryland and the State's appellate, circuit and District courts, and money judgment means a…

Maryland's exemption scheme: subsection (b) exempts up to $5,000 in tools, books and appliances necessary to a trade, money payable for sickness, accident, injury or death, prescribed health aids, $1,000 in household…

Maryland Rule: except as law provides otherwise, a money judgment recorded and indexed in the county of entry is a lien from entry, for the judgment and post-judgment interest, on the defendant's interest in land in…

Maryland Rule: a money judgment expires 12 years after entry or its most recent renewal, and before expiration the holder may file a notice of renewal and the clerk enters the judgment renewed;

What a homestead declaration must contain and how it is recorded. Getting the contents wrong means no declared homestead; follow the section.

Massachusetts text that property owned at marriage remains the separate property of each spouse, who may hold, manage, sell and convey it as if unmarried, with the tenancy-by-the-entirety and creditor provisions.

MASSACHUSETTS PROTECTS A HOME EVEN WITH NO DECLARATION. In the absence of a valid recorded declaration, an AUTOMATIC homestead exists for the owner and family members occupying or intending to occupy the home as a…

Massachusetts rule that all real and personal property liable to be taken on execution, except personal property exempt at common law or under ch.

MASSACHUSETTS'S PERSONAL PROPERTY EXEMPTIONS: necessary clothing and beds, household furniture to the stated value, tools and implements of trade, a motor vehicle to the stated value, cash or savings to the stated…

Massachusetts exemption for a person's interest in ERISA plans, Keogh plans, section 401(a) and 403(b) plans, SEPs, IRAs and annuities purchased with their distributions, which are exempt from insolvency laws and may…

Massachusetts rule that when land not attached in the action is taken on execution, the officer must deposit a copy of the execution with a memorandum in the registry of deeds, and the taking is invalid against a…

The homestead chapter's defined terms, including home, owner, declared homestead exemption and automatic homestead exemption. 'Home' reaches a manufactured home and a co-operative interest as the section provides.

How a homestead is terminated, including by a recorded release and by a deed to a non-family member. A client who conveys without thinking can lose the protection.

An additional homestead for owners who are sixty-two or older or who are disabled, which can stack per qualifying owner on the terms the section sets. Check it whenever an older client's home equity is the issue.

The docketing mechanism that turns a money judgment into a statewide real estate lien.

The New Jersey state court route for clearing a docketed judgment after a bankruptcy discharge, and it carries a hard waiting period.

Reserves to the debtor, family or estate, goods, chattels, shares of stock and PERSONAL PROPERTY OF EVERY KIND UP TO $1,000, exclusive of wearing apparel, plus all wearing apparel, against execution or civil process out…

A tenancy by the entirety is created only when a husband and wife (spouses) take under a deed or will that expressly says they take as tenants by the entirety, or when spouses take as tenants in a deed to themselves.

The construction presumption that supports the entireties analysis. No instrument creating a property interest on the part of a husband and wife is construed to create a tenancy in common or a joint tenancy unless it is…

The District of New Jersey Bankruptcy Court's complete local rules, dated August 1, 2026, published as one PDF.

The retirement plan exemption, and it is broad. Subsection b provides that any property held in a qualifying trust and any distributions from it, regardless of the distribution plan elected, are exempt from all claims…

HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND FURNITURE NOT EXCEEDING $1,000 ARE EXEMPT FROM ATTACHMENT, except for a debt incurred in their purchase; confirm the current figure (last amended 1974) before relying on it.

The judgment life span. A judgment of any New Jersey court of record 'may be revived by proper proceedings or an action at law may be commenced thereon within 20 years next after the date thereof, but not thereafter.'…

Northern District of New York local rule: a motion to avoid a judicial lien must state the petition date; describe the real property; state the claimed exemption, its amount and statutory basis (11 U.S.C.

The aggregate limit covers CPLR 5205(a) personal property and only the annuity contracts meeting the listed conditions.

Eastern District of New York local rule: unless the rules provide otherwise, motion papers are served at least fourteen days before the hearing, answering papers must be served so as to be received at least seven days…

Northern District of New York local rule on motions: unless otherwise specified, a motion is filed and served at least twenty-one days before the return date, and answering papers must be served and filed so as to be…

Southern District of New York local rule: outside discovery motions and motions governed by Bankruptcy Rule 2002, motion papers are served at least fourteen days before the return date, answering papers must be served…

Once a judgment creditor has delivered an execution to a sheriff, its rights in a debt owed to the judgment debtor or in the debtor's interest in personal property are superior, to the amount of the execution, to those…

At any time after one year from a bankruptcy discharge, the debtor, a receiver, trustee or other interested person may apply, on proof of the discharge, to the court that rendered or docketed a judgment for an order…

This is the section that answers the opt-out question for New York, and it answers it the opposite way from Virginia and Maryland. Section 285, added by L. 2010 ch.

A disposition to two or more persons creates a tenancy in common unless expressly declared to be a joint tenancy, but a disposition to a husband and wife creates a tenancy by the entirety unless expressly declared…

Official Northern District of Ohio bankruptcy court order, marked not intended for official publication, holding on a chapter 7 debtor's motion that a judgment lien may be avoided under section 522(f)(1)(A) even though…

Ohio text making a judgment of any court of general jurisdiction in Ohio, including federal district courts, a lien on the judgment debtor's lands and tenements in a county from the time a certificate of judgment with…

Ohio text binding the judgment debtor's lands and tenements with a lien from the time they are seized in execution even without a certificate of judgment, and binding goods and chattels from the time they are seized in…

Ohio text allowing a dormant judgment, or an unpaid money finding in equity, to be revived in the manner prescribed for reviving actions before judgment or by action in the court that rendered it or where its transcript…

OHIO HAS OPTED OUT of the federal exemptions: an Ohio debtor may not elect 11 U.S.C. 522(d) and must use the state scheme in section 2329.66.

Ohio text allowing an action to revive a judgment only within ten years after it became dormant, extended for listed disabilities, and providing that interest does not accrue on a revived judgment from dormancy to…

Ohio text providing that judgments of probate, municipal, county, and other courts inferior to the common pleas court become liens on land only through a certificate of judgment filed as section 2329.02 provides, after…

Ohio text providing that a judgment not in favor of the state becomes dormant and stops operating as a lien unless, within five years after the judgment or its latest renewal, an execution issues, a certificate of…

Ohio text directing a writ of execution to command the officer to levy first on the debtor's goods and chattels and, if none are found, on lands and tenements, with the court able to order installment sale terms for…

OHIO'S EXEMPTIONS, and they are generous: a HOMESTEAD exemption in the residence, a motor vehicle, household goods, tools of trade, a wildcard, and full protection for most retirement accounts, all at the amounts this…

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court's complete local rules, effective December 1, 2025, as one PDF; they contain no separate rule for motions for relief from stay (L.B.R.

The specific exemptions that supplement the $300: wearing apparel, bibles and school books, sewing machines, uniforms, and, importantly, certain retirement funds, insurance proceeds and annuity payments on the terms the…

Western District rule: a motion for relief from stay must plead with particularity the movant and proof of claim number, the property and whether it is scheduled, its value and the valuation source, the loan's…

A judgment or other order of a court of common pleas for the payment of money is a lien on real property, on the conditions, to the extent and with the priority provided by statute or by general rule under § 1722(b),…

Exemptions from attachment or execution granted by statute may not be waived by the debtor by express or implied contract, whether before or after the commencement of the matter, the entry of judgment or otherwise.

Pennsylvania's general exemption is $300. THERE IS NO PENNSYLVANIA HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, which is why Pennsylvania debtors almost always elect the FEDERAL exemptions under 11 U.S.C. 522(d) instead of the state set.

Liens against real property rank as the section lists: purchase money mortgages from delivery if recorded within ten days (otherwise from the time left for record), other mortgages and defeasible deeds from the time…

Text of Pa.R.C.P. 3023: a judgment entered in the judgment index creates a lien on real property in the county titled of record at that time in the name of the person against whom it is entered, and a judgment on a…

Text of Middle District of Pennsylvania Local Bankruptcy Rule 3015-1: a chapter 13 plan must conform with L.B.F.

An action for revival of a judgment lien on real property must be commenced within five years, as must an action for specific performance of a contract for sale of real property or damages for its breach and an action…

Western District of Texas bankruptcy local rule requiring a proposed order to be submitted with a request for relief (attached as an exhibit and separately uploaded), a signed certificate of service listing entities…

Texas exempts personal property up to an aggregate fair market value that the section states, higher for a family than for a single adult, in addition to the unlimited homestead. Confirm the current figures.

Western District of Texas bankruptcy local rule requiring motions for valuation to name the creditor and claim number in the title and allowing a chapter 13 debtor to include a section 522(f) lien avoidance motion in…

Western District of Texas local rule on contested matters: it prescribes the negative notice language, requires a party opposing relief to file a responsive pleading within the time in the negative notice, requires the…

Texas text allowing a dormant judgment to be revived by scire facias or an action of debt brought no later than the second anniversary of the date it became dormant. Read with section 34.001.

Texas text providing that a judgment becomes dormant, and execution may not issue unless it is revived, if no writ of execution issues within 10 years after rendition, or a second writ does not issue within 10 years…

The categories of exempt personal property, which are unusually generous and include home furnishings, farming or ranching vehicles and implements, tools of a trade, two firearms, and livestock in the numbers the…

Retirement plans and accounts are exempt on the section's terms. Often the largest asset a Texas debtor keeps.

Texas text providing that a recorded and indexed abstract of a judgment that is not dormant is a lien on the defendant's real property in the county where it is recorded, including property acquired later, other than…

Texas text allowing a judgment debtor to file in the county real property records a homestead affidavit in the statutory form, with a certificate of mailing, after notifying the judgment creditor and its attorneys by…

To secure the 34-4 and 34-4.1 real estate exemptions the householder must sign a writing, recorded as deeds are recorded, in the county or city where the real estate lies, or where he resides if the property is outside…

Beyond the Chapter 2 exemptions (§ 34-4 et seq.), a householder holds exempt from creditor process the family Bible, wedding and engagement rings, portraits and heirlooms, a burial lot and preneed funeral contract,…

Confirms that spouses may hold real or personal property as tenants by the entirety, that the tenancy may be created by a direct conveyance from one spouse, and that entireties property conveyed to a qualifying joint…

Virginia text: a judgment lien is enforced in equity, and if the rents and profits of all real estate subject to the lien will not satisfy the judgment in five years, the court may decree a sale of the real estate or…

Lets a householder who has set apart no real estate, or less than the full value allowed, claim the balance of the § 34-4 allowance in personal estate by the writing § 34-14 requires.

Virginia has opted out: NO INDIVIDUAL MAY EXEMPT FROM THE BANKRUPTCY ESTATE THE PROPERTY SPECIFIED IN 11 U.S.C. § 522(d), except as expressly permitted under Title 34.

A householder may hold exempt from creditor process real or personal property of the householder's own selection, including money and debts due, up to $5,000 in value, or $10,000 if the householder is 65 or older, plus…

A veteran residing in Virginia with a service connected disability of forty percent or more as rated by the U.S.

A parent supporting a dependent minor child residing with him may exempt from wage garnishment an extra $34 per week for one child, $52 per week for two children, and $66 per week for three or more children, on top of…

Every money judgment rendered in Virginia by a state or federal court, or by confession, becomes a lien on all real estate the defendant owns or later acquires only from the time the judgment is recorded on the judgment…