Post-Judgment Interest

Prejudgment interest is more complicated than post-judgment interest. Under the post-judgment interest statute, the statutory interest rate — 9% — begins tolling when there is money due under a judgment or order.
Specifically, section 408.040, RSMo, states that: “interest shall be allowed on all money due upon any judgment or order of any court from the date judgment is entered by the trial court until satisfaction be made by payment, accord or sale of property; all such judgments and orders for money upon contracts bearing more than nine percent interest shall bear the same interest borne by such contracts, and all other judgments and orders for money shall bear nine percent per annum until satisfaction made as aforesaid.” [emphasis added]
An adverse finding is not enough. There needs to be an actual order of damages or money compensation. “If no money is due upon a judgment, then post-judgment interest does not run on it.” Lake v. McCollum, 324 S.W.3d 481, 485 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010).
Based on the foregoing, it may seem attractive to simply let a judgment toll interest if you are a judgment creditor. However, experience suggests that if a judgment debtor allows this to happen, more often than not the debtor is re-shuffling assets to make collection difficult.
Contact us with questions.