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Can anyone with experience/knowledge of these types of cases hazard a guess to how much the claimants might realistically receive and in what sort of timeframe?
And if Rudy doesn’t pay up in his lifetime, could the money be seized from probate?
Final one! If the claimants aren’t likely to see any money for a few years, are they at least able to secure loans against the ruling immediately?
No way to know what they might actually get. They have a judgment. By federal statute, the judgment automatically operates as a lien on any of the defendant's real property in the judicial district. Notice of judgment lien should be filed with the land records office to be "perfected." When the lien is perfected, the debtor cannot transfer title to the real property without filing a waiver of the lien, or at least the debtor could not pass good legal title or get title insurance without the waiver; the perfected judgment lien has priority over any subsequently perfected debt.
There may be prior creditors, such as a mortgagee, who holds a super lien based int he fact that their debt is secured by the physical property as collateral whereas the judgment lien creditor is unsecured debt. Secured debt almost always has priority.
The judgment will likely be stayed pending appeals. I would expect six months to two years to resolve appeals, depending on whether they have any merit. Interest begins running from the date of the judgment. The post judgment interest rate is currently 5.39%; this is intended to encourage prompt payment and to compensate the successful plaintiff while the defendant appeals.
The judgment may also be enforced against Rudy, if he doesn't pay voluntarily after any stay is lifted, which is essentially asking the court to order the debtor's bank to turn over funds, or ordering the debtorcs employer to garnish wages, or two seize the debtor's assets. I heard a story from a marshal who was called to enforce a small judgment against a bank, and the bank would not give him cash or a bank check, so the marshal started taking office equipment, and there was nothing the bank could do.
If the debt is not satisfied in the debtor's lifetime, the debt absolutely can be presented in probate, and again may or may not be satisfied at that time depending on priority of creditors; when they perfected the debt, whether is is secured or unsecured, medical or consumer, etc.
I've never tried to get a loan against a judgment but there are lenders willing to fund the cost of litigating a case based on the expectation of judgment, so I'm certain there are lenders that will loan against the judgment, and you can even sell the judgment to a debt collector, which is very common. There are lenders willing to sell debt instruments for any conceivable financial obligation, they are soulless blood suckers at the banks and if no instrument exists they will create one for you. Then they will turn around and sell your payment obligation as another debt instrument, naked credit default swaps, and whatnot, I digress.
Lots of judgments go unpaid. I always tell clients getting the judgment, whether it's a slam dunk or a dragout, uphill slog, is often the easy part; still have to get paid.
Thank you for that! It was really interesting and informative, I appreciate the time it took. I have a vague idea that civil litigation is pursued largely out of the principle of the matter, and that’s fine if you’re a billionaire suing for a dollar… but these women weren’t rich and no doubt incurred debt by having to move/go into hiding, when they did absolutely nothing wrong. I feel like they should get a couple of million right now - enough to clear their debts, pay off the house/car and have a long holiday. As scummy as those lenders sound, maybe that’s the best move for these claimants, especially the older one. I think I’d rather have a couple of mil now than fight (probably unsuccessfully) for £70m each over the next decade.