A money judgment is a license to use collection procedures, not a payment. A plaintiff that has not thought about collectability before filing may have spent years to obtain an unenforceable paper.

Discovery in aid of execution. Post-judgment, the creditor may examine the debtor under oath about assets, and subpoena banks and third parties. This is broad and frequently the fastest route to recovery.

Garnishment reaches money owed to the debtor by others — bank deposits, accounts receivable, sometimes wages subject to statutory exemptions. It is served on the garnishee, who must answer and hold the funds.

Judgment liens attach to real property on recording in the relevant county, and to personal property under state procedures. They convert the judgment into a claim that surfaces on any refinance or sale.

Charging orders are the remedy against a debtor’s interest in a partnership or LLC in most states, giving the creditor distributions rather than control.

Fraudulent transfer claims address assets moved to defeat collection, and have their own limitation periods.

Domestication. A judgment from another state is enforced through a registration procedure. It is usually simple, and skipping it is fatal.

Interest and costs accrue at the statutory rate; recording that accrual correctly avoids disputes about payoff amounts later.