Examination of a judgment debtor (Form 67B)

Once a money order has been made, a registrar can, on the judgment creditor's application, issue a summons (Form 67A) requiring the judgment debtor to be orally examined about their income, property, available cash and debts (r 67.01(1)-(2) of the Magistrates' Court General Civil Procedure Rules 2020). The creditor must serve the summons together with a copy of Form 67B for a natural person, or Form 67C for a corporation (r 67.01(3)). Form 67B sets out the questions the registrar will ask, and when the registrar conducts the examination, the completed record in Form 67B is sent to the judgment creditor (r 67.01(8)).

When you need it

• You are a judgment creditor who has obtained a money order against an individual and want to find out what they earn and own before choosing how to enforce it.
• You are serving a Form 67A summons to attend for oral examination on an individual. Use Form 67C instead if the debtor is a company.
• You are a judgment debtor who has been served with Form 67B and want to prepare your answers before the examination.

1. 1

   Creditor: fill in the heading

   Copy the court number, venue and party details from the order, and insert the name of the person being examined. The question columns are left for the debtor and the registrar.

2. 2

   Debtor: personal details and housing

   Questions 1 to 6 cover name, date of birth, address and phone, whether you own, rent or board, any planned move, relationship status and dependants.

3. 3

   Debtor: assets

   Questions 7, 8, 14, 15, 16 and 20 cover land and buildings, motor vehicles and finance, bank accounts and balances, cash, other property such as shares, superannuation, boats and caravans, and any business interest. Attach an extra sheet if you have more than one vehicle or account.

4. 4

   Debtor: income and employment

   Questions 9 to 13 cover money owed to you, employment and employer details, after-tax income and how often it is paid, overtime, benefits and other income.

5. 5

   Debtor: expenses, debts and offer

   Question 17 lists weekly expenses; questions 18 and 19 cover other court orders, fines and debts; questions 21 and 22 ask for any offer to pay and what has already been paid.

6. 6

   At the examination

   You answer on oath or affirmation (r 67.01(4)) and sign; the registrar records where and when it was taken and may order costs of the examination (r 67.01(9)).

• The creditor files Form 67A (the summons), not Form 67B. The court's guide says to file the original and two copies of Form 67A with the court where the order was made and pay the filing fee; check the current civil fees page.
• Service of Form 67B: the summons and Form 67B must be served personally on the judgment debtor not less than 7 days before the day named for the examination (r 67.01(3A)).
• The creditor must make sure conduct money is given to the debtor when the documents are served (r 67.01(3B)). Conduct money is enough to cover the debtor's reasonable expenses of getting to court and back (r 67.01AA).
• The person who served the documents completes an affidavit of service (Form 6A), which the court's guide says must be filed.
• If the summons has not been served, the registrar can move the examination to a later day, but only once unless reasonable efforts to serve have been shown (r 67.01(11)-(12)).

• Serve the right sheet: Form 67B for an individual, Form 67C for a company (r 67.01(3)).
• Debtors may fill in the answers before the hearing, as the form's pre-examination note suggests, but they only swear to them at the examination.
• Only the debtor, the creditor and their counsel may be present without both parties' consent (r 67.01(7)).