Why Domesticate a Judgment from Another State
Oct. 6, 2025
Domesticating a Judgement
We work with a lot of lawyers from all over the United States and abroad. They email or call us because they have a judgment, but the defendant moved or has assets in Illinois. In Illinois the process is called “domesticating a judgment” and it is governed by Illinois statute 735 ILCS 5/22-650. Without going through the process, the out of state judgment is effectively worthless in terms of collection in Illinois. However, by following this statute we can transform an out of state or out of the country judgment into an enforceable Illinois judgment.
The Basics: Enforcing What a Defendant Won’t Do Voluntarily
Collecting on a judgment means compelling a Defendant to do something they don’t want to do—pay. The standard method many attorneys rely on is issuing a Citation to Discover Assets to the Defendant. Think of it as a deposition focused on the Defendant’s finances. Other states call it a “debtor’s examination.”
Here’s the problem: this method depends on the Defendant’s cooperation. Instead of spending time and money asking the Defendant “Where’s your money?”—do some basic investigating.
● Did the Defendant ever pay you before?
● Check your bank records. If you received a check or payment, you might already know where they bank.
Unsurprisingly, many Defendants are less than truthful—or simply ignore the process. After incurring thousands in legal fees, you may eventually get a bench warrant issued for noncompliance. But once arrested, the Defendant bonds out and the cycle starts over.
Where we come in.
Here is what you need to know. All we need is a certified/exemplified/authenticated copy of the judgment emailed to us with the last known address of the defendant. Once this information is supplied, we prepare the requisite documents, notices, affidavits etc. and after some occasional squabbling with a clerk's office, your judgment magically becomes enforceable in Illinois.
Here’s the golden nugget:
People rarely change banks, even after a judgment. The hassle of switching all their online payments and direct deposits keeps them loyal.
If you can identify the Defendant’s bank, issue a Citation to Discover Assets to the bank—not the Defendant. After serving the bank, their account is frozen before they even know what hit them. Once the bank confirms the funds, you file a Motion for Turnover—and the money is sent directly to you.
Aside from a few exceptions (like Social Security or pension income), there’s very little the Defendant can do to stop it. That’s why this is the best method to collect on a judgment in Illinois. Full stop.
In a nutshell, this process gives you a case number. Armed with a case number we can unleash the hounds with a variety of collection techniques. This approach doesn’t just apply to banks. We’ve successfully issued Citations to:
● Brokerage firms
● Employers
● Business partners
● Clients
● Even gaming platforms
These are post judgment procedures that are called supplemental proceedings and can be found in our statues at 735 5/2-1402 and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 277.
Why Illinois?
So, why would a client want to domesticate a judgment in Illinois? The answer is easy: so that it can use Illinois law to collect on it. Otherwise, it’s unenforceable in this state. Once properly domesticated, here is what we can do:
Issue a Citation to Discover Assets to a Financial Institution. In English, we serve papers on a bank, freeze the account and have the funds go directly to you.
Issue a Citation to Discover Assets to the Debtor’s Employer (garnishment). It's harder and you won’t get a huge lump sum but if the debtor keeps working you will get paid.
Place a Lien on real property. If they have property, we get the judgment, record it and you get Illinois post judgment rate and the judgment is essentially secured by property.
Turnover of property. If we know of a specific property, (sometimes with the help of a private investigator) we can ask the court to sell it. We can also foreclose on real property as well, but it can be expensive.
Charging orders. We can make an LLC turnover distributions to you rather than the debtor.
Citation to Discover Assets to the Debtor. Most lawyers do this one first, but it's basically an action that asks the judgment debtor where is your money? Debtors are reluctant to comply and are often less than forthright. However, if you do not have any other leads, this is the way to go.
Final steps.
Once those documents are filed, it takes anywhere from one to ten days for it to be approved. Once it is, your attorney will advise that you are the proud owner of an Illinois judgment so that you can start enforcing it here.
Can the defendant contest the out of state judgment in Illinois courts?
They can, but they will likely not be successful.
We have had numerous defendants try to vacate the judgment because of a defense that could have been asserted in the state of the original judgment. I advise opposing counsels of this all the time, but some simply want to simply file the motion, brief the issue and have a hearing, Everytime, this has happened the Illinois judge indicates that it must give full faith and credit to the sister state judgment and directs the defendant to direct any attacks on the judgment there.
If you need help enforcing your judgment in Illinois, please contact me at doug@illinoisattorney.com.