Even if your creditor gets a judgment against you in California, the debt underlying that judgment remains just as dischargeable as it was before the case was filed.  And apparently differently from New York, a judgment in California does not automatically become a lien on the defendant’s property.

The discharge of a debt in bankruptcy depends on the nature of the debt, not whether a court has ruled on the merits of the claim.  So, child support is non dischargeable, whether or not there is a judgment.  Debts incurred by fraud are non dischargeable in bankruptcy.  Credit card debts honestly incurred are dischargeable, judgment or no.

Contrary to  what some dishonest debt collectors will tell you, judgments are just as dischargeable in bankruptcy as the underlying debt is.

What does change the dynamic is if/when the judgment creditor applies for an abstract of judgment or files a notice of judgment lien.  These documents do create a lien on the judgment debtor’s assets, the former on real property in the county in which it is filed, and the later on personal property located in the state.  If the lien cannot be avoided in bankruptcy, the judgment creditor has obtained an advantage.

What my friend Jay Fleischman’s post on BLN about  civil judgments in New York and their bankruptcy implications points out is the way in which state law impacts the operation of bankruptcy, which is federal law.  The rights that each party in a bankruptcy case brings to the bankruptcy case originate in state law.

It also  demonstrates why lawyers are licensed in each state and why my California law license does not entitle me to practice bankruptcy law in New York.