How to Collect Your Judgment in Missouri

A Missouri judgment is enforceable for 10 years, and can be renewed before it expires. A Missouri judgment is presumed paid/satisfied 10 years after original rendition (RSMo 516.350) and ceases to be a lien after 3 years on real estate unless revived. The creditor must file a motion to revive (scire facias) before the 10 years expires (RSMo 511.370; Rule 74.09). A revived judgment runs for another 10-year period and can be successively revived.

Yes. Garnishment in Missouri can reach Lesser of 25% of disposable earnings (10% if head of family) OR the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30x the federal minimum wage. Exemptions: Head-of-family exemption reduces the cap from 25% to 10% of disposable earnings (supporting a spouse, dependent child under 21, or SSA-disabled dependent). Debtor must file the claim and supporting affidavit within 20 days after receiving the garnishment paperwork.

Through Examination of Judgment Debtor (supplementary proceeding) — the court orders the debtor to appear and disclose their assets under oath. After an execution is returned wholly or partly unsatisfied, the creditor may, within 5 years of that return, obtain a court order requiring the judgment debtor to appear and be examined under oath about ability to satisfy the judgment (RSMo 513.380; Rule 76.27). Filed by motion in the court that entered the judgment; no single statewide OSCA form code confirmed for the examination order.

Judgments of circuit courts (and the supreme court, court of appeals, federal courts in MO) are automatically liens on the debtor's real estate in the county where the court sits (RSMo 511.350). Associate-division judgments must be filed with the circuit clerk (RSMo 517.141/517.151) to become a lien. Small claims and municipal-division judgments are NOT liens on real estate. The lien lasts 3 years.

You pay the court and sheriff their own filing/levy fees directly (usually modest, and recoverable from the debtor). Our Judgment Collection service is a flat $299 — we prepare your Missouri-specific enforcement forms and a step-by-step filing playbook; you file them. Compared with collection firms that take 33–50% of what they recover, that's hundreds to thousands less on a typical judgment.

Some debtors are "judgment-proof" — no job, no bank account, no equity — and no tool can squeeze money that isn't there. The honest play is the debtor's exam to confirm what exists, then keep the judgment alive (it lasts 10 years and is renewable) and try again when their situation changes. We give you the tools, not a guaranteed payout.