Guide
Someone owes me money
and will not pay
Money lent to a relative, an advance paid to a builder, a share in a business that never paid out. When it is owed in Pakistan and you are abroad, the question is always the same: is there a paper, and is there something to recover. This page is about answering both before you spend anything.
Where this applies This page covers money owed by someone in Pakistan. A debt owed to you in the country you live in is a matter for that country.
What this is about
A court can order a debt paid when the debt can be shown: a written agreement, a cheque, a bank transfer, messages that admit it. A court cannot order what cannot be shown, and a court order is only worth something if the other side has property or income the order can reach.
So the first job is not filing. It is reading what you have, and finding out what the other side has. Only then does it make sense to decide between a notice, a case, and a settlement.
What has to be in place
What has to be clear.
What you can show: the agreement, the transfer, the cheque, the messages.
Who exactly owes it, and what they own.
How old the debt is, because time matters.
Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.
The documents you will be asked for
What an advocate asks for.
- Every paper and every message about the money.
- Bank records of what you paid.
- The other side’s identity details and address.
- Your power of attorney.
How an advocate helps from where you are
What an advocate does.
- Tells you plainly whether it can be recovered, and what it would cost to try.
- Sends the notice, and negotiates where the other side wants to settle.
- Files the case in the right court and runs it to an order.
- Executes the order against property or income, which is the part that actually brings money back.
What to ask before you agree
- Can this debt be recovered, and what would it cost to try?
- What does the other side own that an order could be executed against?
- How old is the debt, and does time still allow a case?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- What is your fee, and what is not included in it?
More in Money
A cheque bounced, or my bank account is stuckMoney
I paid for something in Pakistan and did not get what I paid forMoney
We paid an agent for a visa or a job and got nothingMoney
Also relevant
Words you will meet
- recovery
- A case to get money that is owed.
- loan
- Money lent.
- execution
- Enforcing a court order against property or income.
Written
11 September 2026
Pakistan.