Business Partnership Debt - Judgement

[brownaddesign]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? North Carolina

I had a business partnership in 2003 where we dissolved the partnership 11 months into it. After that, my former partner stop making rent payments on the office we had and was eventually evicted. Since both of us signed the lease (4 years/$2000 per mo), our landlord, who is also a lawyer, took us to arbitration where he was awarded $32,000. We chose not to take it to trial and to let the 30 day period expire under the advice of our lawyer, so now we are facing a judgement. By the way, our lawyer tried repeatedly to negotiate a settlement and repayment terms leading up to the arbitration, with no success. I have never faced a judgement and have good credit, so I am very concerned about 1) possible seizure of assets and 2) negative affect on my credit. It is my understanding that because my wife was not party to the business, he can't get what we jointly own. Our home has a mortgage and we maxed out our equity in a recent refinance/debt consolidation. The title to our minivan we just purchased is in my wife's name only. We have a six year old Accord (both names on title) which we still owe $6000, so I believe I can claim exemption on that. Everything else is household and personal property. So we are arguing that everything is exempt. What are the chances they could seize assets? Also, would my best course of action be to pay off the judgement over a couple of years (hoping my former partner could contribute as well) and have it listed as "satisfied?" How much will my credit score drop? How soon after it is satisfied should I be able to get back to the point where I am today? Sorry so long, but I am just trying to get a better idea of what to expect.