I had a relative that owed me a lot of money, he had a lawsuit settled
out of court with Wal-Mart, he tells me he didn't get anything, other
people said he did....how can I find out what he settled for??
Case No. CJ-2002-5178

I don't actually think you can find that out for sure, you can get all
the info on the lawsuit in the records department wherever the case
was filed, that is all public record. If they did settle out of court
then he isnt suppose to talk about it (most likly) But I would file a
small claim against him and just present the records you get from the
lawsuit he had filed but settled, the judge will ask if he got money
or why he settled. Good Luck.

I am not sure what state you are in.  I am a lawyer.  In most states,
whatever funds were recovered are subject to attachment to settle your
account.  You can file suit against the relative to obtain a judgment.
 Once you have the judgment, you can use post-judgment remedies to
find out what assets the relative has.  The court case will probably
only show that the case was settled and dismissed unless it was
settled through a court-ordered arbitration or mediation process.  It
is always worth checking in the Clerk of Court office but don't count
on finding anything out.  Depending upon this relative's financial
position, you could possibly link with another creditor to force the
relative into bankruptcy, thus forcing the Court to take over his/her
assets.
The best advice would be to meet with an attorney in your state to
determine the best course for you to take and to determine what you
are entitled to recover, including your attorneys fees.
I was once able to have an out-of-state Court freeze a personal injury
settlement because my client was seeking to recover a large amount of
back child support.  By learing about the proposed settlement BEFORE

As I was saying, be learning of the pending settlement BEFORE it was
concluded, we were able to prevent the defendant's attorney from
distributing the funds to his client until the Court determined
whether it should be used to pay the back support.  The difference
there was that we already had the back support reduced to a judgment
which was enforceable across state lines.

You indicate that the relative owes you a "lot" of money.  That
suggests to me that it would be worth paying an attorney to find out
what your options are in your state.

Good luck.