Garnishing the Defendant's Bank Account
In this instance, money in the defendant’s bank account will be given to you to help satisfy your judgment. Except in certain limited circumstances, you cannot garnish funds from a jointly held account unless your judgment was against both owners. You also cannot garnish retirement or escrow accounts.
The first step in garnishing a bank account is
completing the Request for Garnishment of Property Other Than Wages (form DC/CV 60). To complete the form you need to know the name and address of the defendant’s financial institution, as well as the amount of your judgment and any additional money owed to you (such as court costs and post-judgment interest).
If you provide the proper information,
the clerk will issue a Writ of Garnishment.
The defendant’s financial institution (known as the “garnishee” will be served with the writ, as well as a Garnishee’s Confession of Assets of Property Other Than Wages (form DC/CV 61). The garnishee has 30 days from the date of service to file the Confession of Assets with the court. You will receive a copy of the completed form, which will list any assets belonging to the defendant that the bank holds.
Once 30 days have passed since the original Request for Garnishment of Property Other Than Wages is served and the garnishee has filed an answer to the request, you can file the Request for Judgment Garnishment (form DC/CV 62). Before filing the form, you must mail a copy of the request to the garnishee and the defendant.
If the judge chooses to enter a judgment in your favor, the garnishee will be ordered to turn over to you the money withheld from the defendant’s bank account.