Washington Asset Search

Every link in this guide was opened and verified on Sep. 17, 2026.

An asset appearing in a public record is not automatically available to pay a judgment. This guide separates the public-record search from private financial information and the Washington collection process.

Follow the documents, not just the name

Use the assessor's parcel to locate the recorded deed, then follow the entity holding title. Search company status through the Secretary of State and collateral through the Department of Licensing. A result in one system does not establish what the other system contains.

Washington Courts identifies chapter 6.27 RCW as the garnishment framework and publishes statewide garnishment forms. For a bank, select the non-earnings category, including the applicable GARN 01.0200 writ, rather than treating the employer packet as interchangeable.

Identify the bank or other holder, the exact debtor and the unpaid judgment. Obtain the proper court papers and arrange service under the applicable rules. Confirm the local clerk and serving officer's requirements before choosing a time-sensitive service date.

The forms collection includes debtor notices and a separate bank-garnishment exemption claim, identified as GARN 01.0500, as well as other required materials. A complete packet includes the protection and response process, not just the page ordering a restraint.

Follow the bank's answer, any exemption claim and the court's payment procedure. A public property search or company filing may point to a banking relationship, but does not disclose the current amount the bank can lawfully release.

The applicable official starting points are Washington Courts: official forms, including garnishment forms, Washington Courts: writ of garnishment information and statutory links. Use the current issuer's forms and instructions for the particular case.

County Auditor records establish recorded land transactions and claims. Business and UCC records identify different facts about entities and collateral. For a vessel, use the relevant title or federal documentation route rather than assuming a UCC search lists every boat owned by the subject.

The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 estimates report an owner-occupied housing rate of 63.8% and a median value of owner-occupied housing of $564,600 in Washington. The rate refers to occupied housing units, not a percentage of people. The value is not an estimate of equity available to creditors. Census QuickFacts: Washington.

Real estate, companies, collateral and vessel leads where supported by the subject's history offer useful research branches. Public-record availability and the legal ability to collect remain separate questions.

Do not search only the Secretary of State and conclude there are no UCC claims. For bank collection, verify the non-earnings writ, notices, exemption forms and the correct court's service instructions as a complete set.

A Washington dissolution is filed in the superior court of the county where the petitioner resides under RCW 26.09.010, and the County Clerk, as clerk of the superior court, keeps the file and records the orders, judgments and decrees under RCW 36.23.030. General Rule 22(c)(1) makes all family law court records open to the public for inspection and copying, except the restricted access documents in GR 22(c)(2), which include the Law Enforcement and Confidential Information Form, Sealed Financial Source Documents, the Domestic Violence Information Form, the Notice of Intent to Relocate, Sealed Personal Health Care Records, Retirement Plan Orders, Confidential Reports, unredacted Judicial Information System records used for parenting plan approval and the Personal Information Sheet; judges, court staff, certain state agencies, the parties and their attorneys may see them under GR 22(h), except that the parties and attorneys do not get the Law Enforcement and Confidential Information Form or the Domestic Violence Information Form, and anyone else needs a written stipulation of the parties or a court order under GR 22(i).

The sworn money form

Washington's form is the Financial Declaration, mandatory pattern form FL All Family 131, revised June 2026, the sworn statement of income, employer, expenses, assets and debts filed in dissolution cases. It is not on the GR 22(c)(2) restricted list, so the declaration itself is public. The documents behind it are not: pay stubs, tax returns, bank and credit card statements and loan applications are Financial Source Documents, filed under the Sealed Financial Source Documents cover sheet, FL All Family 011, which tells the filer it keeps the documents private from the public while the other party and the lawyers can see them. The Findings and Conclusions, the Final Divorce Order with its division of property and debt, any separation contract filed and the exhibits are public under GR 22(c)(1); the Retirement Plan Order that splits a pension is restricted under GR 22(c)(2).

Finding and reading the file

Washington Courts Search Case Records at dw.courts.wa.gov, run by the Administrative Office of the Courts, is a statewide index of cases in municipal, district, superior and appellate courts, including superior court dissolutions, with case and docket information rather than images. The documents are inspected and copied at the County Clerk's office, where several clerks also sell images through their own portals, at the statutory fees in RCW 36.18.016: 50 cents per page for an uncertified copy and $5 for the first page plus $1 for each additional page of a certified copy. Under GR 15(c), as amended effective June 27, 2023, the court may seal or redact a record only on written findings that the specific sealing or redaction is justified by identified compelling privacy or safety concerns that outweigh the public interest in access, and under GR 22(i)(2) any person may move with an affidavit of good cause for access to a restricted family law document.

Bankruptcy files for Washington residents

Washington has two bankruptcy districts: the Western District at wawb.uscourts.gov, covering the area west of the Cascade Mountains, and the Eastern District at waeb.uscourts.gov. Their schedules name deposit accounts and the employer and are public under 11 U.S.C. 107.

After the file: supplemental proceedings

Under RCW 6.32.010, at any time within ten years after entry of a judgment for $25 or more, unless that time is extended under RCW 6.17.020(3), the judgment creditor may apply for an order requiring the judgment debtor to appear at a specified time and place before the judge granting the order, or a referee appointed by the judge, to be examined, and RCW 6.32.050 requires the answers to be under oath. The Washington judgments and liens page covers the procedure.

• General Rule 22, access to family law, protection order, guardianship and therapeutic court recordsThe open rule in (c)(1) and the restricted list in (c)(2)
• FL All Family 011, Sealed Financial Source Documents cover sheetHow pay stubs, tax returns and statements stay out of public view
• General Rule 15, sealing and redactionThe compelling privacy or safety concerns standard
• RCW 36.18.016The clerk's copy and certification fees
• RCW 6.32.010The order to appear and answer concerning property

The national guide covers what stays private, the collection tools for every asset class and what a search and levy can cost: Asset Search, what public records reveal and what stays private.