A turnover order in California is used in judgment collections by judgment creditors or assignees of record under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure Section 708.205(a) which authorizes a Judge or Count Commissioner to issue a turnover order after the conclusion of a judgment debtor examination.

A primary advantage to a turnover order in California as a judgment recovery method is the fact that if the judgment debtor is personally served with a copy of the turnover order and fails to comply, they can be held in contempt of court. Used correctly, a turnover order by itself can convince many judgment debtors to either pay the judgment in full or make a reasonable settlement offer particularly when the judgment debtor examination discloses the existence of non-exempt property.

Code of Civil Procedure section 708.205 states that

"(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), at the conclusion of a proceeding pursuant to this article, the court may order the judgment debtor's interest in the property in the possession or under the control of the judgment debtor or the third person or a debt owed by the third person to the judgment debtor to be applied toward the satisfaction of the money judgment if the property is not exempt from enforcement of a money judgment. Such an order creates a lien on property or debt.

(b) If a third person examined pursuant to Section 708.120 claims an interest in the property adverse to the judgment debtor or denies the debt and the court does not determine the matter as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 708.180, the court may not order the property or debt to be applied toward the satisfaction of the money judgment but may make an order pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 708.180 forbidding transfer or payment to the extent authorized by that section."

Experienced parties in California attempting to collect an unpaid judgment should always consider the use of a turnover order at the conclusion of judgment debtor examinations. Creditors should always have an original turnover order with blank lines ready to be filled in along with several copies to bring to the debtor's examination.

Some Judges and Commissioners may order property turned over to the levying officer which in most counties is the County Sheriff, but some may order the property turned over directly to the judgment creditor or assignee of record, particularly of it is cash.

Questions For Debtor's Examinations

Documents Requested in a Subpoena

Married Judgment Debtors

Fraudulent Transfers