Small Claims Pre-Trial

[treehugger1]

In some states, once a judgment is entered, you can file a declaration of exempt property. In all of the judgments against me in Oregon, I received a form that I could file my exemptions with the small claims judgment. I had to state my exemptions and "why" I believed they were exempt. This was easy. I just listed my state's code number next to each exemption. I filed this as what is called a "declaration" and then attached a notarized affidavit to the declaration. I filed one copy with the court clerk and mailed one copy return-receipt to the plaintiff. The reason for this is that in my county the judgment plaintiff must still file for and pay money to the court to get the writ. The judge (or judge's clerk) will generally look at the file before authorizing a writ of seizure (wages, personal, or real property.) I think you can do the same in Washington. I don't know about Florida. I'll see if I can find a court recognized copy of what is filed here. You might have the same type of response form in your state.