{"id":2163,"date":"2026-09-25T01:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/tinklarastis\/finding-debtor-assets-and-income-lithuania-creditor-and-bailiff\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T03:54:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:54:51","slug":"finding-debtor-assets-and-income-lithuania-creditor-and-bailiff","status":"publish","type":"irasas","link":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/en\/blog\/finding-debtor-assets-and-income-lithuania-creditor-and-bailiff\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding a debtor’s assets and income in Lithuania: you vs the bailiff"},"template":"","kategorija":[],"class_list":["post-2163","irasas","type-irasas","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"visi_puslapiai_cta_statusas":false,"visi_puslapiai_cta_antraste":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_formos_id":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_papildomas_tekstas":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_nuotrauka":null,"tinklarastis_1_autorius":null,"tinklarastis_1_iraso_tipas":false,"dinamiski_blokai":[{"acf_fc_layout":"tekstas","tekstas":"

Before court, a creditor sees only what is public and what the debtor chooses to show. The full picture \u2013 accounts, income, assets \u2013 is gathered by the bailiff (court enforcement officer, antstolis<\/em>) once an enforcement document is submitted to them. When performing the functions listed in Article 21(1) of the Law on Bailiffs of the Republic of Lithuania (Ant\u012e), the bailiff has the right to obtain, without payment, from the State Tax Inspectorate (Valstybin\u0117 mokes\u010di\u0173 inspekcija<\/em>), the State Social Insurance Fund administration bodies (Sodra<\/em>), banks and other persons the data needed on the debtor's assets, funds, income, expenses and activities (Ant\u012e Article 22(1)). The bailiff's requests to provide available information on the debtor's financial position are, except in cases laid down by law, binding on everyone (Article 585(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania, CPK). So in our practice we do not hold back a claim until we have investigated the assets ourselves. Before court we answer a different question: is it worth starting?<\/p>\r\n

How to obtain a judgment through a court order for payment and what to do when the bailiff returns the document, we covered in the article on court orders and the bailiff<\/a>. How the bailiff finds the debtor's bank accounts, we discussed in the article on enforcing a foreign judgment<\/a>. This article covers who can find out what at each stage.<\/p>\r\n

What you can check yourself before going to court<\/h2>\r\n

When the debtor is a company.<\/strong> The data of the Register of Legal Entities, the documents kept in the register and any other information submitted to it are public (Article 2.71(1) of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, CK). The register records the company's legal status (CK Article 2.66(1)(11)) \u2013 it shows whether the company is in bankruptcy, in liquidation, or whether its liquidation has been initiated. What each status means we explained in the article on the Centre of Registers extract<\/a>. In the cases set by law, the company's set of annual financial statements is also filed with the register (CK Article 2.66(4)). It shows the assets and liabilities.<\/p>\r\n

In our practice, before filing a claim we always check whether bankruptcy proceedings have been opened against the debtor. We also look at a few signs. If the company no longer has insured employees and owes money to Sodra, court proceedings often no longer pay off. If the company still holds vehicles or other registered assets, enforcement has something to be directed against.<\/p>\r\n

When the debtor is an individual.<\/strong> There are fewer options. Hardly any public data exists on an individual's assets and income. Data on workplace, income and assets is obtained by the bailiff during enforcement (Ant\u012e Article 22(1)).<\/p>\r\n

Ask the debtor.<\/strong> When a debtor says they cannot pay because of hardship, you can ask them to prove it, for example by showing a Sodra statement of declared income. This is a request, not a demand. But the answer, or the silence, says a lot before you negotiate a payment schedule.<\/p>\r\n

There is also a formal route. A bailiff may provide a client data collection service (Ant\u012e Article 21(2)(8)). This means collecting data on the person, their assets, income, obligations, debts and pending property disputes from information systems and providing it to the client or another person (Ant\u012e Article 25\u00b9(1)). At the request of another person \u2013 you, for example \u2013 the data is collected only where the bailiff is given the debtor's own written consent, or the consent is produced in a way that identifies the person who gave it (Ant\u012e Article 25\u00b9(2)). In the consent, the debtor states which data may be collected and to what extent (Ant\u012e Article 25\u00b9(3)), and until the data has been handed over the debtor may ask in writing for the collection to stop (Ant\u012e Article 25\u00b9(4)). So this route tells you nothing without the debtor's will.<\/p>\r\n

During court proceedings<\/h2>\r\n

If you fear that the debtor will hide assets, you can ask for interim measures even before the judgment. The court applies them if you show that your claim is probably well founded and that, without the measures, enforcement of the judgment may become more difficult or impossible (CPK Article 144(1)). Interim measures can be requested before the claim is filed, and at any stage of the proceedings (CPK Article 144(2)). When asking before the claim, you state why the claim was not filed together with the request, submit evidence of the threat, and pay the court fee and a security deposit (CPK Article 147(3)). Having applied the measures, the court sets a deadline for filing the claim. As a rule, it may not be longer than fourteen days (CPK Article 147(3)). You may ask for the attachment of the defendant's real estate, or movable property, funds or property rights belonging to the defendant and held by the defendant or by third parties (CPK Article 145(1), points 1 and 3).<\/p>\r\n

You do not need to know the specific assets. A court ruling on interim measures is an enforcement document (CPK Article 587, point 4). The bailiff enforcing it refines the data on the attached assets within 14 days of accepting the ruling for enforcement. If within that time the bailiff does not find enough assets to secure all the claims, the bailiff draws up a new inventory on later finding other assets (point 33 of the Instructions on the Enforcement of Judgments, SVI).<\/p>\r\n

If you need a document held by another person to prove your case, you can ask the court to order it to be produced. The request must state which evidence is needed, why that person is thought to hold it, and what circumstances it can prove (CPK Article 199(1)). This tool serves to prove the debt, not to search for the debtor's assets.<\/p>\r\n

After judgment: what the bailiff does<\/h2>\r\n

Once you hold an enforcement document, such as a writ of execution or a court order for payment (CPK Article 587, points 1 and 2), enforcement is carried out by the bailiff. The bailiff must, on their own initiative, take all lawful measures so that the judgment is enforced as quickly as possible and in fact (CPK Article 634(2)).<\/p>\r\n

The bailiff has wider tools than the creditor.<\/p>\r\n