writ of execution
- noun
- /rɪt əv ɛkˈsɪkjuːʃən/
- Formal
- The debtor has to disclose where he is working. Then, the creditor has to get a writ of execution/garnishment from the court.
Examples
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When a creditor's writ of execution on a judgment failed to provide satisfaction on the debt, the execution was said to have been returned unsatisfied.
Academic text (2017) -
However, under early common law, writs of execution did not afford creditors the right to reach a judgment debtor's equitable interests or intangible assets, such as choses in action or interests in stock or debt.
Academic text (2017) -
Arrests: Mercer Island police assisted the King County Sheriff's Office with a writ of execution at 6:15 a.m. in the 4200 block of East Mercer Way.
Blog text (12) -
The judge issued a writ of execution to authorize the sheriff to seize the debtor's property.
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After obtaining a writ of execution, the police arrived to enforce the court's judgment by removing assets from the premises.
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Once the court processed the writ of execution, the enforcement officer was able to carry out the property seizure without delay.
Synonyms
A formal written court order telling someone to do or not do something
A court order that tells an officer to enforce a court decision
A document from a court that orders someone to do or stop something
How Binding
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'writ' (a legal document) combined with 'execution' (enforcement of a judgment) yields a document authorizing enforcement. Although the phrase is technical legal jargon, the noun-of relation is straightforward and cross-linguistically comparable, so a learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Writ of execution: The legal phrase writ of execution comes from the words writ (a written order) and execution (meaning 'to carry out' the order). It is the court's paper that lets a sheriff 'carry out' a judgment by taking or selling someone's property, so the phrase means an order to make a court decision happen.