Judgment expiration by state is the question of how long a creditor can use a court judgment to collect, and whether that window can be extended. This page puts the rule for all 50 states in one place, so you can see how long a judgment lasts where you live and what it takes to keep one alive.
The answer varies because each state wrote its own statute, with its own number of years, its own starting point and its own renewal steps. Every row in the table comes from that state’s own verified guide on this site, where the full rule, the statute citation and the sources are laid out.
Click any state below for its full judgment expiration by state guide, with the statute citation, the sources and the figures behind each row.
Quick Facts — Judgment expiration by state (2026)
- Shortest window: 5 years, in Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Each of these states also gives a way to keep the judgment alive or revive it, so 5 years is not always the end.
- Longest window: 20 years, in 15 states, including Florida, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin. Connecticut allows 25 years for an action on the judgment, the highest figure in the table.
- Most common rule: 10 years. 21 states use a 10-year enforceable period, among them Alabama, California, Michigan, Texas and Washington.
- The notable outlier: New Mexico sets 14 years from the date of the judgment, and that limit is absolute, with no renewal. Maine and South Carolina are the only other states listed with no renewal.
- What changes the answer: the renewal deadline. Arizona, Nevada and Washington want the renewal filed within the 90 days before the judgment expires. Georgia allows revival within 3 years after a judgment goes dormant. In Missouri, once the 10 years run, the judgment is conclusively presumed paid.
- True in every state: every row in the judgment expiration by state table sets a fixed number of years, counted from a set event, and no state’s period is shorter than 5 years.
- Free help: your local legal aid office, the court’s self-help center and the clerk of the court that entered the judgment can all confirm dates and filings at no cost.
Judgment expiration by state — All 50 States Compared
The judgment expiration by state table below shows the two figures that frame the question in every state. Here is what each column means:
Enforceable For = how many years the state lets a creditor use the court’s collection tools on the judgment, and what date the clock runs from.
Renewable? = whether the judgment can be renewed or revived before or after it runs out, and the window the state gives for that.
| State | Enforceable For | Renewable? |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 10 years from entry, or the last execution issued | Yes — revival is possible up to 20 years from entry and never after (6-9-190); an action… |
| Alaska | 10 years from entry (the 10-year limit on an action on the judgment) | Limited — an execution within 5 years of entry, or a motion for leave after that; an… |
| Arizona | 10 years from entry (or the last renewal) | Yes — the affidavit must be filed within the 90 days before the 10-year period expires… |
| Arkansas | 10 years from when the cause of action on the judgment accrues (entry) | Yes — any time before the lien expires (16-65-501(a)(1)); actions on the judgment within… |
| California | 10 years from entry | Yes — any time before the 10-year period expires (683.130(a)); miss it and the judgment… |
| Colorado | 20 years from entry (6 years for county court judgments entered on or… | Yes — before the 20-year (district court) or 6-year (county court) period expires; the… |
| Connecticut | 20 years from entry (executions); 25 years for an action on the… | Limited — executions within 20 years of entry and actions on the judgment within 25… |
| Delaware | 10 years from entry or recording (the real-estate lien term)… | Yes — renew the lien before its 10 years run; executions within 5 years (later ones… |
| Florida | 20 years from entry | Limited — a new action on the judgment within the 20-year limitations period; the 55.081… |
| Georgia | 7 years from rendition (or from the last execution entry on the… | Yes — within 3 years after the judgment becomes dormant (9-12-61) |
| Hawaii | 10 years from rendition | Limited — within 10 years of the original judgment; absolute ceiling 20 years |
| Idaho | 10 years from the date of the judgment (the recorded lien's term) | Yes — any time before the 10-year lien or the last renewal expires; renewals can repeat |
| Illinois | 7 years from entry (or the last revival) | Yes — in the 7th year after entry or after the last revival, in the 20th year after… |
| Indiana | 20 years from rendition | Limited — no extension of the 20-year period; the 10-year lien is tolled only for the… |
| Iowa | 20 years from the date of the judgment (the action on it); the… | Limited — an action on the judgment within 20 years; the 10-year lien is not extended by… |
| Kansas | 5 years from entry, the last revival order, or the last renewal… | Yes — keep alive every 5 years; once dormant, revive within 2 years after dormancy… |
| Kentucky | 15 years from the date of the last execution on the judgment | Yes — keep executions issuing; an action on the judgment within 15 years of the last one |
| Louisiana | 10 years from signing (or, if appealed, the date the judgment becomes… | Yes — before the 10-year prescription runs; revival can repeat |
| Maine | 20 years from the date the obligation under the judgment accrued | No — none — the presumption arrives at 20 years |
| Maryland | 12 years from entry (when the cause of action on the judgment accrues) | Yes — within 12 years of entry (Cts. & Jud. Proc. 5-102(a)(3)) |
| Massachusetts | 20 years from rendition | Limited — alias executions every 5 years keep enforcement running; nothing extends the… |
| Michigan | 10 years from rendition | Yes — any time within 10 years of rendition (6 years for a judgment of a court not of… |
| Minnesota | 10 years from entry | Limited — within 10 years of entry; no administrative renewal |
| Mississippi | 7 years from rendition, or the last renewal, whichever is later | Yes — before the 7 years from rendition or the last renewal run; renewals can repeat |
| Missouri | 10 years from original rendition, or the last revival upon personal… | Yes — before the 10 years run; after that the judgment is CONCLUSIVELY presumed paid and… |
| Montana | 10 years from entry (when the action on the judgment accrues) | Limited — within 10 years of entry |
| Nebraska | 5 years from entry, or the last writ of execution issued | Yes — an execution every 5 years; once dormant, revive within 10 years of dormancy |
| Nevada | 6 years from entry (or the last renewal) | Yes — within the 90 days before the judgment expires by limitation (NRS 17.214(1)(a)) |
| New Hampshire | 20 years from accrual of the cause of action on the judgment (entry) | Limited — within 20 years of entry |
| New Jersey | 20 years from the date of the judgment | Yes — within 20 years of the judgment date |
| New Mexico | 14 years from the date of the judgment | No — 14 years from the original judgment, absolute; out-of-state judgments get the other… |
| New York | 20 years from the date the creditor was first entitled to enforce it | Limited — the 20-year period restarts only from a payment or a signed written… |
| North Carolina | 10 years from entry | Limited — the single action on the judgment must be filed within 10 years of entry; the… |
| North Dakota | 20 years from docketing (judgments first docketed on or after August… | Limited — older judgments: within the 90 days before the 10-year mark; newer judgments… |
| Ohio | 5 years from entry or the last renewal, whichever is later | Yes — an action to revive must be brought within 10 years after the judgment became… |
| Oklahoma | 5 years from filing of the judgment, or the last execution, renewal… | Yes — before 5 years pass from the filing or the last qualifying act; miss it and the… |
| Oregon | 10 years from entry | Limited — before the 10 years from entry run; a certificate filed after expiry has no… |
| Pennsylvania | 20 years from entry | Limited — the real-property lien: every 5 years, before it lapses; the judgment itself… |
| Rhode Island | 20 years from accrual of the cause of action on the judgment (entry) | Limited — within 20 years of entry |
| South Carolina | 10 years from the date of the original entry | No — none in the statute — executions run 10 years from the original entry 'without any… |
| South Dakota | 20 years from entry (writs of execution within 20 years); the… | Yes — the affidavit before 10 years from first docketing (and before each later 10-year… |
| Tennessee | 10 years from entry (when the action on the judgment accrues) | Yes — within the 10 years after entry; no time limit at all for judgments entered on or… |
| Texas | 10 years from entry (or from the last writ of execution) | Yes — a dormant judgment must be revived within 2 years after it becomes dormant (CPRC… |
| Utah | 8 years from entry (or the last renewal) | Yes — before the 8-year period (or the current renewal period) expires (78B-6-1802(2)) |
| Vermont | 8 years from rendition | Yes — within 8 years of rendition, and not after |
| Virginia | 10 years from the date of the judgment (or its domestication), for… | Limited — the certificate must be recorded before the current period expires; at most two… |
| Washington | 10 years from entry (or filing of a foreign judgment in Washington) | Limited — within the 90 days before the original 10-year period expires (RCW 6.17.020(3)) |
| West Virginia | 10 years from the date of the judgment, or the return day of the last… | Yes — an execution inside every 10-year window keeps the judgment alive |
| Wisconsin | 20 years from entry | Limited — the 20-year bar is not extended; the 10-year lien runs from entry |
| Wyoming | 5 years from the date of the judgment, or the last execution issued | Yes — an execution every 5 years; once dormant, revive within the period 1-16-503 allows |
Each judgment expiration by state cell comes from the verified data behind that state’s own guide on this site, which prints the figure with the statute and the date it was read. Where a cell says “see guide,” the state’s rule needs more than one line, and the guide covers it in full.
Judgment expiration by state: What Every State Shares
Behind all the differences, judgment expiration by state follows one basic pattern. A clock starts on a set event, usually the day the judgment is entered or rendered, and runs for a fixed number of years written into the statute. While the clock runs, the creditor can use the court’s collection tools, such as executions, and in many states the judgment can also act as a lien on property.
When the clock runs out and the required step was never taken, the judgment generally can no longer be enforced the same way, though some states let a dormant judgment be revived for a limited time afterward.
The second shared piece is renewal. Of the 50 rows, 28 states are marked Yes, 19 are marked Limited, and only Maine, New Mexico and South Carolina are marked No. Renewal nearly always has its own deadline, and the creditor is the one who has to act, by filing an affidavit, issuing an execution or bringing a new action on the judgment.
If you read the judgment expiration by state table as two questions, how long it lasts and whether it can be extended, you have the structure every state shares.
Judgment expiration by state: What Makes It Different
The statute itself is the first thing that moves the answer, and it controls more than the number of years. In Kentucky the 15 years run from the date of the last execution, not from entry. Colorado gives 20 years for district court judgments but 6 years for county court judgments. Some states treat the lien separately from the judgment.
Pennsylvania’s real-property lien has to be renewed every 5 years, and in Iowa and Wisconsin the 10-year lien runs on its own track. So two people with judgments from the same year can face very different judgment expiration by state answers, depending on the court and on which right is being enforced.
Court practice and the reader’s own actions matter too. In Arizona and South Dakota renewal works by affidavit. In Nebraska and Wyoming, a new execution every 5 years keeps the judgment active. In New York, a payment can restart the 20-year period. A judgment filed in Washington from another state starts its 10 years at the filing date.
This is why a general rule of judgment expiration by state is only a starting point. The docket for your own case, including every renewal, execution and payment, decides which window you are actually in.
Find the date your judgment was entered before you do anything else. Nearly every judgment expiration by state rule counts from that date or from the last renewal or execution, so that date tells you which window applies and whether a renewal deadline has already passed.
Judgment expiration by state: What to Do Next
Start by getting a copy of the judgment and the case docket from the clerk of the court that entered it. Write down the entry date and every later filing, such as renewals, revivals, executions or a foreign judgment filing. Then open your state’s guide on this site.
Each state page gives the statute citation, the sources behind the rule and the date each figure was verified, so you can check it against the law yourself. Use the judgment expiration by state table to compare, but rely on your own state’s page for the details.
Next, use the site’s free tools, which apply your state’s rule to your own dates and show when the enforceable period ends and when a renewal window opens or closes. This page does not tell you what to do about any particular debt. It explains what each state’s rule allows the creditor and the person who owes the judgment to do.
If the dates are unclear or a deadline is close, a legal aid office or the court’s self-help center can review your paperwork for free. Knowing your judgment expiration by state rule ahead of time lets you check any letter, notice or court paper against the dates the law sets.
See when your judgment expires
Pick the state and enter the judgment date; the calculator shows the expiration date, the renewal window and the post-judgment interest rule.
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Official Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, debt collection: www.consumerfinance.gov — the federal rules a collector must follow, and what a judgment lets a creditor do
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School: www.law.cornell.edu — how a money judgment works
- United States Courts, civil cases: www.uscourts.gov — how a civil lawsuit moves from complaint to judgment
- State statutes and agency pages: linked inside each state guide, with the date each was read
Judgment expiration by state data compiled from the verified figures behind each state’s guide on this site, which cites the statute and the source with the date each figure was read. Figures change by statute and by year, so each row links to the page that explains it. Last reviewed October 2026.
Disclaimer: This page is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Rules, deadlines and figures vary by state and change over time. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.