# Ohio — How long a money judgment stays enforceable before it must be renewed, by state

For Ohio, how the statute states the period is A judgment that is not in favor of the state is dormant and shall not operate as a lien against the estate of the judgment debtor unless one of the following occurs within five years from the date of the judgment or any renewal of the judgment, whichever is later; section is 2329.07, verified against its source on 2026-09-01.

- **State:** Ohio _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **How long the judgment stays enforceable before it must be renewed or revived:** Five years from the date of the judgment, or from the last renewal of it, whichever is later - for a judgment that is not in favour of the state. A judgment in favour of the state runs ten years from the judgment or any renewal, or fifteen years from the last execution on it, whichever is later. _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What has to happen to extend it:** Keeping it alive takes an enforcement step, not a filing. The five years reset each time the creditor issues an execution, issues and files a certificate of judgment, has an order of garnishment issued or continuing, or commences or continues a proceeding in aid of execution - the statute calls any of those a renewal of the judgment, and no application to the court is needed. If none of them happens in time the judgment is dormant, and it can then only be brought back by an action to revive it, which must be brought within ten years from the time it became dormant. _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **How the statute states the period:** A judgment that is not in favor of the state is dormant and shall not operate as a lien against the estate of the judgment debtor unless one of the following occurs within five years from the date of the judgment or any renewal of the judgment, whichever is later _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Section:** 2329.07 _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_

## What the source says

> (B)(1) A judgment that is not in favor of the state is dormant and shall not operate as a lien against the estate of the judgment debtor unless one of the following occurs within five years from the date of the judgment or any renewal of the judgment, whichever is later: (a) An execution on a judgment is issued. (b) A certificate of judgment for obtaining a lien upon lands and tenements is issued and filed, as provided in sections 2329.02 and 2329.04 of the Revised Code. (c) An order of garnishment is issued or is continuing, or until the last garnishment payment is received by the clerk of courts or the final report is filed by the garnishee, whichever is later. (d) A proceeding in aid of execution is commenced or is continuing.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### State

> Ohio Revised Code / Title 23 Courts-Common Pleas / Chapter 2329 Execution Against Property

### How long the judgment stays enforceable before it must be renewed or revived

> (2) Except as otherwise provided in division (D) of this section, a judgment in favor of the state, is dormant and shall not operate as a lien against the estate of the judgment debtor unless one of the following occurs within ten years from the date of the judgment, or any renewal of the judgment, or within fifteen years from the date of the issuance of the last execution thereon, whichever is later: (a) An execution on the judgment is issued.

### What has to happen to extend it

> (A) An action to revive a judgment can only be brought within ten years from the time it became dormant, unless the party entitled to bring that action, at the time the judgment became dormant, was within the age of minority, of unsound mind, or imprisoned, in which cases the action may be brought within ten years after the disability is removed.

### Section

> Section 2329.07 | Judgment may become dormant.

## Source

- https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2329.07
- https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2325.18

Last verified: 2026-09-01. Review by: 2027-09-01.
Part of [How long a money judgment stays enforceable before it must be renewed, by state](https://referencesource.org/judgment-renewal-deadlines-by-state/).