What is a Court Execution? A court execution is a writ of execution court order granted to put a judgement into force. A case has already gone to trial and a judgement has been granted. The court order will be carried out by a sheriff, sergeant, coroner or constable. A judge will command a sheriff or someone of similar authority to collect the "goods and chattles" of the convicted defendant to settle the debt owed to the plaintiff. An execution will contain the following information: the names of the sheriff, plaintiff, defendant; amount of debt owed; date of when the debt originated, and the court date.

Types of Executions Fieri Facias (Fi.fa.)- A writ to a sheriff for executing a judgement. Chancery - Plaintiff seeks equal distribution of assets. Writ of elegit - A judgement against a debtor's goods and chattel held by the creditor until debt is paid.

Execution Returned/Not Satisfied When an execution was not able to be served and debt unable to be satisfied; or, an execution had been served but the defendant had no property or monies to settle the debt.

Superior Court Any higher court than county court, i.e. Court of Appeals, Virginia Supreme Court, the Federal Supreme Court.

Waiver of the Homestead Act Several of the executions indicate that the defendant waived their homestead right. Below is an explanation of the Homestead Act of 1862 and what it meant to waive this right.

Homestead Act of 1862 An agreement between borrow and lender to waive the homeowner's statutory homestead rights under state law. Homestead rights protect a homeowner's equity from creditors in cases of default.

What does that mean? The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed an adult citizen to claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. They were required to , meaning cultivate and establish homes. After five consecutive years, the citizen would be entitled to ownership of the land. If the within five years, then the owner waived their homestead right and was subject to the financial obligation and susceptible to collection of debt.