Judgment Lien Duration & Renewal Requirements in Texas
At a glance
| Governing law | CPRC §§ 34.001 (dormancy), 31.006 (revival); Prop. Code ch. 52, §§ 52.001, 52.004-52.006 (lien creation and duration) |
|---|---|
| How long the judgment itself lasts | No fixed expiration: becomes dormant without a writ of execution within 10 years of rendition (or of the last writ); revivable within 2 years of dormancy (CPRC §§ 34.001, 31.006) |
| How long a recorded lien lasts | 10 years from recording and indexing, but ends immediately if the judgment becomes dormant during that period; government judgments instead get 20 years, renewable once for another 20 (Prop. Code § 52.006) |
| How to renew | No court motion renews the lien itself: recording a new (subsequent) abstract while the judgment isn't dormant creates a fresh 10-year lien; the judgment stays non-dormant by a writ of execution issuing at least once every 10 years, or a dormant judgment is revived by scire facias or an action of debt (Prop. Code § 52.001; CPRC §§ 34.001, 31.006) |
| Renewal window | No early filing window for a fresh abstract; revival of an already-dormant judgment must be sought within 2 years after the date it became dormant (CPRC § 31.006) |
| Recent changes or debt-type limits | Child-support judgments are exempt from the ordinary dormancy rule (CPRC § 34.001(c)); state and state-agency judgments do not become dormant and have a 20-year lien renewable once (Prop. Code § 52.006(b)) |
| What ends the lien early | Recording a certified execution return, or a signed and acknowledged satisfaction/release, shows satisfaction; the judgment becoming dormant during the lien's term ends the lien automatically, with no recording required (Prop. Code §§ 52.005, 52.006(a)) |
| Recording in more than one county | Yes: the county clerk of each county records and indexes its own abstract, and the lien reaches only real property located in that county (Prop. Code §§ 52.001, 52.004) |
Texas rule
An ordinary Texas judgment becomes dormant if a writ of execution is not issued within 10 years after rendition, or if a second writ is not issued within 10 years after the first (§ 34.001). A dormant judgment may be revived by scire facias or an action of debt within two years (§ 31.006). A recorded real-property lien has a separate 10-year period and ends early if the judgment becomes dormant (Prop. Code § 52.006(a)).
Requirements one by one
Judgment validity and revival
Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 34.001 makes the ordinary judgment dormant after the specified 10-year gaps in issuing a writ of execution; execution then cannot issue unless the judgment is revived. Section 34.001(c) expressly excludes a child-support judgment under the Family Code from this dormancy rule. A dormant judgment may be revived by scire facias or an action of debt brought by the second anniversary of dormancy (§ 31.006).
Lien duration and renewal
Property Code § 52.001 says a first or subsequent abstract, recorded and indexed while the judgment is not dormant, attaches to the debtor's nonexempt real property in that county. The ordinary lien lasts 10 years from recording and indexing, but ceases if the judgment goes dormant during that period (§ 52.006(a)). A fresh abstract creates a fresh lien while the judgment is active. No separate court motion is specified for that step.
A judgment in favor of the state or a state agency does not become dormant and has a lien lasting up to 20 years. It can be renewed once for another 20-year period by recording a renewed abstract before the first period expires (§ 52.006(b)).
Satisfaction and multiple counties
A certified execution return or an acknowledged receipt or release can be recorded to show satisfaction in whole or part (§ 52.005). The clerk records and indexes an abstract in the county's real-property records (§ 52.004). Because § 52.001 limits attachment to property in the county of recording, property in another county requires recording there too.
What trips people up
The two clocks differ. A lien may end before its tenth year if the underlying judgment becomes dormant (§ 52.006(a)). The revival window runs from dormancy, not the original judgment date (§ 31.006). Child-support judgments and state-agency judgments have different exceptions; the former are outside § 34.001's dormancy rule, while the latter also have the special lien term in § 52.006(b).
Statutes and sources
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.006, current official text: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/CP/htm/CP.31.htm (accessed 2026-10-07).
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 34.001, current official text: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/CP/htm/CP.34.htm (accessed 2026-10-07).
- Tex. Prop. Code §§ 52.001, 52.004–52.006, current official text: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/PR/htm/PR.52.htm (accessed 2026-10-07).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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