Expired Judgment, Motions to Revive

If one procures a monetary judgment in Missouri (and typically anywhere else), it is that person’s responsibility to collect the judgment. The Court won’t by itself go out and get it for someone. Under Section 516.350, RSMo, “judgments are conclusively presumed paid ten years after they were originally rendered unless [1] a party has revived the judgment or [2] entered payment upon the record.” Pirtle v. Cook, 956 S.W.2d 235, 238 (Mo. 1997). 
Once the ten years runs, it is impossible for a party to try to bring suit or collect on the judgment. Before the ten years runs (and assuming the judgment has not been satisfied) a party may file a motion to revive the judgment for the purpose of extending the amount of time in which the judgment is “active.” Whether a payment on the record has occurred may be less clear. “‘Payment is the delivery of money or another valuable thing in the discharge of an obligation or for the purpose of extinguishing a debt.” Tiller v. 166 Auto Auction, 65 S.W.3d 1, 4 (Mo. Ct. App. 2001) “Payment requires action of both the debtor and creditor.” Parnell v. Sherman, 899 S.W.2d 900, 903 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995). It further requires “delivery by the debtor and acceptance by the creditor, both with a common purpose.” Id. Payments may be involuntary (e.g., a wage garnishment). Crockett v. Pollen, 225 S.W.3d 419, 19-21 (Mo. 2007). 
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