Before you sue, make sure your opponent is solvent and has assets you can grab if he or she refuses to pay voluntarily.

Even after you win a lawsuit, you still have to collect your judgment. And the court won't enforce it for you -- when it comes to collecting what you're owed, you're on your own. That's why you should always consider whether you'll be able to collect a judgment before you file a lawsuit. If your opponent doesn't have any assets (and isn't likely to get any in the future), it may not make sense to take him or her to court.

Collecting from solvent individuals or businesses isn't usually a problem, because most will routinely pay any judgments entered against them. If they don't, there are a number of legal ways to force them to pay. Unfortunately, however, in a small but nevertheless significant percentage of situations, people and businesses sued in court are either broke (lawyers say "judgment proof") or so adept at hiding their assets that collecting your winnings is likely to prove impossible.

When a deadbeat debtor won't pay voluntarily, collecting your judgment can be difficult. That's because debtor protection laws keep you from seizing and selling many types of property, including the food from the debtor's table, the clothing from her closet, and the TV from her living room. And in many states it will even be impossible to seize and sell her car, because a debtor's motor vehicle is protected from being sold to satisfy a debt if the amount of equity in the vehicle is below a certain amount (often about $2,000). And if the vehicle is used as a part of the debtor's business (is a tool of her trade), you probably won't be able to grab and sell it, even if the debtor's equity is higher.

When determining whether you'll be able to collect a judgment if you win, the first thing to investigate is whether the defendant has a job. If a person fails to pay a judgment voluntarily, the easiest way to collect is to garnish up to 25% of his wages. (The wages of very low income workers, however, are exempt from garnishment.) But you can't garnish a welfare, Social Security, unemployment, pension or disability check. So if the person sued gets her income from one of these sources, red flags should definitely be flying unless you can locate other non-exempt assets.