Russell

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1994 plaintiffs obtained a judgment in Illinois against defendants in the sum of just over $430,000 and collected about $335,000. In 2011 defendants inherited property, collectively totaling approximately $40,000. The estate is being probated in Los Angeles. In September 2011 plaintiffs filed an application to domesticate the Illinois judgment in California for the purpose of levying on the probate assets. The court granted it and entered judgment in the sum of slightly more than $110,000 against defendants. Defendants filed a motion to vacate the judgment on the grounds it was barred by the statute of limitations. The court denied the motion on the ground the statute of limitations was tolled because defendants did not reside in nor had they “‘entered’ or ‘returned’ to California.” Although not supported by evidence in the record, none of the parties dispute that defendants have never lived in or even visited California. The court subsequently denied defendants’ motion for reconsideration.

DISCUSSION

To enforce a money judgment from another state, a creditor may domesticate it in California by filing an application pursuant to the Act, as…