H-4291              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1929

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By House Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Locke, Dellwo, Niemi, Padden, Crane, Hargrove, Armstrong, Hine and McMullen)

Read first time 2/7/86 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to contribution among joint tort feasors; and adding a new section to chapter 4.22 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 4.22 RCW to read as follows:

          In an action in which a right of contribution exists under RCW 4.22.040, the court shall determine, upon a motion made not later than one year after judgment is entered, whether all or part of a liable party's share of the judgment is uncollectible.  If the court so finds, it shall reallocate the uncollectible amount among all other parties who were allocated a percentage of fault, including a claimant at fault, according to the ratios of their respective percentages of fault.  In determining whether a share is uncollectible, the court shall consider the current and future availability and extent of resources from which collection might be made, the current and future ability of the party seeking reallocation to collect the share, and the reasonableness of the efforts made by the party seeking reallocation to collect the share.  The party whose share is reallocated is nonetheless subject to contribution and to any continuing liability to the claimant on the judgment.