system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How can people be forced by courts to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements when they don't make a fraction of that in their salary?
gpt
Lawyer here. First off, you probably mean judgment, not settlement. A settlement is an agreement between the parties to dispose of the lawsuit privately. Courts can enforce settlements, but both parties have to enter into one willingly.

To answer the question, though, a judgment against someone is basically a hunting license to go after their assets. It doesn't automatically get you anything. If a judgment is greater than someone's assets, the judgment-debtor can do a few things: (1) declare bankruptcy and have the judgment discharged, (2) work out a payment plan with the judgment-creditor, or (3) ignore the judgment.

If a judgment-debtor does (3), the judgment-creditor can go back to the court to ask for help in getting the money. A court can now do a number of things to enforce the judgment depending on the state. It can order the county to sell property owned by the judgment-debtor and then give the proceeds to the judgment-creditor (they can only do this with some property – for example, you can’t sell someone’s only car or home in many states). It can also garnish your wages, which requires your employer to pay the creditor directly from your salary. It can also appoint a receiver (a third-party attorney) to find out if you have bank accounts with money and them and then seize that money.

As you can see, it’s usually best not to ignore a judgment unless you have no money and don’t plan on getting any anytime soon. If you have a huge judgment against you the best thing to do usually is to work out a payment plan. A lot of creditors might even let you get away with paying less than the full amount if you work with them because then they don’t have to spend money on collection efforts. If a payment plan is not possible, maybe bankruptcy is a good option.