Domestication of Foreign Judgments

Clients sometimes come to us with a judgment that was obtained in another state that they would like to enforce in Texas. In order to enforce a judgment obtained in the United States, but outside of Texas, known as a “foreign judgment,” it is necessary to first domesticate the foreign judgment. Under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Act, judgments rendered in sister states, as well as judgments rendered by federal courts, may be domesticated and enforced in Texas. To domesticate a foreign judgment in Texas, a judgment creditor files an authenticated copy of the judgment with the Texas court, along with an affidavit of the creditor’s and the debtor’s last known addresses. Once the judgment has been properly filed with the Texas court, the judgment creditor is free to pursue post-judgment collection activities including abstracting the judgment in the real property records and sending post-judgment written discovery. Thirty days after filing the foreign judgment a writ of execution may be obtained.