Mechanism 20

Taking a Texas judgment into another state

How do you enforce a Texas judgment against a defendant whose assets are in another state?

Domesticate it. A Texas judgment is entitled to full faith and credit, and every state but a handful has adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act — file an authenticated copy of the judgment with an affidavit giving the parties’ last known addresses, give the statutory notice, wait out the period, and it is enforceable there as a local judgment. In a Bexar County program against practices in a dozen states, this was step two on nearly every file.

By John P. Henry · Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, as adopted in the enforcing state; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 35 (Texas’s reciprocal provision); U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1; 28 U.S.C. § 1738 · Reviewed 2026-08-02

The authority

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1

Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, as adopted in the enforcing state; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 35 (Texas’s reciprocal provision); U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1; 28 U.S.C. § 1738

When it applies

Any Texas judgment against a defendant whose real property, bank accounts or receivables sit elsewhere — which, in a forum-selection-clause program, is nearly all of them. It is also the answer when a debtor moves after judgment.

How it is proved up

Obtain an exemplified or authenticated copy of the judgment meeting 28 U.S.C. § 1738 — not a plain certified copy, in states that require exemplification.
File it with the affidavit the enforcing state’s statute requires, giving the judgment creditor’s and debtor’s last known addresses.
Give the statutory notice and calendar the waiting period before executing. The periods differ by state and executing early is the most common error.
Confirm the judgment is final and not dormant in Texas first. A dormant judgment cannot be enforced anywhere.
Line up local counsel where the state requires it, and price it before you start — on a small judgment the domestication and local counsel can exceed the recovery.

What defeats it

A due-process attack on the original judgment. The enforcing state will not re-try the merits, but it will hear a challenge to personal jurisdiction or to service — which is why the service affidavit and the forum-selection record matter long after judgment.
Dormancy in Texas.
Bankruptcy.
A debtor with nothing to reach. In this program several judgments were domesticated, writs issued, and the sheriff reported the clinic closed or moved. A judgment is not a recovery, and the client is better served hearing that before the money is spent than after.

Where I have used it

The United Biologics program — judgments taken in the Bexar County courts and then domesticated in the defendants’ home states for execution, including Louisiana, North Carolina, Maryland, Arizona and Delaware. In United Biologics v. Moss Street Medical Clinic, Inc. the Texas judgment was filed in the 15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, as Cause No. 20154623L; notice issued, twenty days ran without a response, and the court ordered the judgment recorded and made executory — after which the sheriff was instructed to levy on the clinic’s furniture, computers and office equipment. Several judgments in the program were collected. Several were not, and the file says which.

The order

Scan
being retrieved

Order to Make Judgment Executory · Lafayette Parish, Louisiana · Cause No. 20154623L

CAUSE NO. 20154623L UNITED BIOLOGICS, LLC d/b/a UNITED ALLERGY SERVICES, Plaintiff v. MOSS STREET MEDICAL CLINIC, INC., Defendant IN THE DISTRICT COURT 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT LAFAYETTE PARISH, LOUISIANA ORDER TO MAKE JUDGMENT EXECUTORY On September 18, 2015, Plaintiff, United Biologics, LLC d/b/a United Allergy Services filed its Petition to Make Foreign Judgment Executory. Notice was mailed to Defendant, Moss Street Medical Clinic, Inc. by certified mail, return receipt requested, on September 28, 2015 by Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court, and return receipt was received by the Clerk of Court on October 12, 2015, bearing signature. Twenty days have passed since notice was given to the Defendant, and no response or pleadings have been filed by Defendant. THE ABOVE AND FOREGOING CONSIDERED, Let the Judgment in the above numbered and styled cause be filed and recorded herein and let said Judgment become executory. This the ____ day of __________, 2016. _______________________________ PRESIDING JUDGE

15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana · Cause No. 20154623L
Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court. Petition to Make Foreign Judgment Executory filed September 18, 2015; notice mailed September 28, 2015; return receipt received October 12, 2015.
Complete — one page. Transcribed from the file copy; the file-stamped signed copy is being retrieved from the archive and will be reproduced here alongside the text.

Transcribed verbatim from the copy in the file; the scan is being retrieved. Public record. Reproduced because a result a reader can verify is worth more than a result described.

Questions

What is domestication of a judgment?

Filing a judgment rendered in one state with the court of another state so that it can be enforced there. Under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act the filed judgment is treated the same as a judgment of the enforcing court.

Can the other state re-examine a Texas judgment?

Not on the merits. Full faith and credit forecloses re-litigation of the underlying claim. The enforcing court can consider whether the rendering court had jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter and whether the judgment is final.

How long does a judgment creditor have to domesticate?

It depends on the enforcing state’s limitations period for foreign judgments and on whether the Texas judgment has gone dormant. Keeping the Texas judgment alive by timely issuing writs preserves the option.