Negative declaratory action

A negative declaratory action allows a person facing actual or imminent enforcement to seek a judicial declaration that they owe nothing. Typical grounds include demands for debts already paid, enforcement of instruments given only as security, and forgery allegations.

The action may be brought before or during enforcement. If filed beforehand, the court may order, against security, a preliminary injunction halting the proceeding; if filed afterwards, the injunction may only take the form of withholding payment of funds held by the enforcement office. Once the debt has been paid, the case continues as a restitution action seeking recovery of the payment.

The losing party may be ordered to pay an indemnity of no less than the statutory rate. The burden of proving the debt rests in principle on the creditor, but claims against written instruments are subject to the written-evidence rules, so success requires strong documentation.