How to Collect Your Judgment in Wisconsin

A Wisconsin judgment is enforceable for 20 years, and can be renewed before it expires. Wis. Stat. § 815.04(1)(c): no execution may issue or proceeding be commenced on a judgment after 20 years from rendition. A judgment lien on real property lasts 10 years from entry (§ 806.15(1)) but can be extended/renewed by bringing a new action on the judgment within the 20-year window.

Wisconsin bars or heavily restricts wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts. RESTRICTED: Wisconsin caps wage (earnings) garnishment at 20% of disposable earnings — lower than the federal 25%. An earnings garnishment is effective for 13 weeks (one pay-period cycle) and must be renewed thereafter. Filed in small-claims division.

Through Supplemental Examination (supplementary proceedings) (No dedicated statewide form; ordered by a court/supplemental court commissioner under Wis. Stat. Chapter 816) — the court orders the debtor to appear and disclose their assets under oath. File for a supplemental examination order in the court that entered the judgment; the debtor (or a third party) is ordered to appear under oath and answer questions about income, property, and assets, and may be required to produce financial documents. Governed by Wis. Stat. Chapter 816.

Docket the judgment in the judgment and lien docket of the clerk of circuit court in the county where the debtor owns real estate; docketing creates a statutory lien on the debtor's real property in that county (Wis. Stat. § 806.15). Pay the $5 docketing fee. To reach property in other counties, file a transcript of judgment there. The lien lasts 10 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 Wisconsin-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 20 years and is renewable) and try again when their situation changes. We give you the tools, not a guaranteed payout.