Also known as: debtees · creditor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person to whom another owes a debt. The term identifies the holder of a right to repayment and supplies the party authorized to enforce collection through attachment, levy, or other remedies when the debtor's interest is reachable.
Diana Delgado holds a judgment against a trust beneficiary whose interest lacks a spendthrift clause. She petitions the court to authorize attachment of future distributions payable to the beneficiary. The court grants limited relief allowing her to reach only those amounts the trustee is about to pay out.
Deanna Davenport obtains a judgment against an owner holding land in fee simple conditional. She records the judgment and asserts a lien against the owner's transferable interest in the property. The lien attaches to whatever portion the owner may presently convey or later acquire power to convey.
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Dustin Donovan holds a judgment against a limited partnership. He seeks to levy on a general partner's personal assets. Execution is denied because no prior judgment was obtained against the partnership itself and the partner never agreed to waive exhaustion of partnership assets.
Daniel Diaz obtains a judgment against a partnership. He attempts to execute directly against a partner's personal assets. The court refuses the levy because the partner never agreed to bypass partnership assets and the partnership is not in bankruptcy.
David Dawson is owed money by a trust beneficiary. He attempts to reach distributions before the trustee pays them out. The valid spendthrift clause prevents any attachment or assignment of the beneficiary's interest until actual receipt.
Dwight Dorsey holds a claim against a person possessing land in a fee tail limited to a single lifetime. He asserts a lien against the possessory interest. The lien reaches only those portions the debtor has power to transfer at the time the lien attaches or later acquires power to transfer.
It is an older synonym for creditor, the party to whom a debt is owed. Modern statutes and restatements uniformly employ the word creditor instead.
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A debtee may reach the interest by attachment of present or future distributions only to the extent the interest is not protected by a valid spendthrift provision.
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Yes. A valid spendthrift clause prevents both voluntary transfer by the beneficiary and involuntary reach by a creditor or assignee until the distribution is actually received.
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Levy is permitted only if the partner is personally liable, a judgment has already been obtained against the partnership, execution on that judgment has been returned unsatisfied, or the partner has agreed that partnership assets need not be exhausted first.
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A debtee may subject to payment those interests the debtor has power to transfer when the lien attaches or later acquires power to transfer during the lien's continuance.
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…to justify the assumption that a debtor can avoid paying his obligations by removing his property to a State in which his creditor cannot obtain personal jurisdiction over him. The Full Faith and Credit Clause, after all, makes the valid in personam judgment of one State enforceable in all other States. It might…