judgment debt

noun

1. Law. a debt established or confirmed by decree of a court of law.

Word History and Origins

Origin of judgment debt¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

A group of Sept. 11 families that years earlier had sued the Taliban for their losses, winning a default judgment when the militants failed to show up in court, then moved to seize the funds to pay off the judgment debt.

From New York Times

The Havlish plaintiffs — about 150 people, linked to 47 estates of the nearly 3,000 people killed — moved to seize some of that money to pay off the Taliban’s judgment debt to them.

From New York Times

In September, lawyers for a plaintiffs’ group in the Havlish case — about 150 people, linked to 47 estates of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks — persuaded a judge to send a U.S. marshal to serve the Federal Reserve of New York with a writ of execution to begin seizing the Afghan funds to pay off its judgment debt.

From New York Times

Lawyers in the Havlish case had earlier proposed a similar arrangement, dividing the assets between humanitarian relief and paying off the Taliban’s judgment debt to their clients.

From New York Times

Their judgment debt is roughly equal to all the assets in the account.

From New York Times