Q: I am trying to qualify for Medicaid – but they said my worthless judgment is an asset – even though my judgment debtor is hopelessly broke. My lawyer said someone can buy my judgment for $1 but Medicare says that’s not a fair judgment value. Can you help me verify my judgment is worthless?

A: Even though judgment are never to be confused with cash, judgments are sometimes considered to be valuable assets by Medicaid, Bankruptcy Courts, State agencies, and other funding assistance sources. The best judgments are chances to get cash, and are not hard assets. Worthless judgments are not really assets at all.

One “problem” is that one cannot do a full search on a debtor’s status and assets unless one owns the judgment. Although we are not lawyers, we can give you this advice: Hire a private investigator to verify the lack of assets and/or destitution of the debtor.

Then send a copy of the PI’s report to the agency. You can do some more checking with public data records, and write a letter, stating that we believe the value of the judgment is zero. The Private Investigator’s report and your opinion together, might persuade them the judgment is worthless. Again, we are not lawyers and this is just our opinion. Good luck.