By: Edward L. Kelly and Karl R. Gruss
Writs of garnishment provide judgment creditors (i.e., the party in whose favor the judgment was entered) access to money that belongs to debtors but is possessed or controlled by third parties, typically financial institutions. Chapter 77 of the Florida Statutes details the State’s procedures for properly obtaining and executing writs of garnishment, and Florida courts have devoted significant attention to interpreting the legislature’s statutory scheme. This article discusses some of the basic procedures judgment creditors must follow to successfully garnish the property of a judgment debtor and the obligations of garnishee financial institutions served with a writ.
Writs of garnishment allow judgment creditors to reach particular kinds of property or property rights of a judgment debtor, including:
- any debt that is due or that will become due to the debtor, and only the debtor, by a third party; and
- any intangible or tangible property owned by the debtor but controlled or otherwise possessed by a third party.
Funds on deposit in a bank account are, strictly speaking, a debt that the bank owes the depositor on demand, and this creates a common source of recovery for a judgment creditor.
When the judgment creditor targets the debtor’s funds held in a bank account, the judgment creditor initiates the process by serving a writ of garnishment on the financial institution maintaining the debtor’s account. Within 20 days of receiving the writ, the garnishee financial institution must respond by filing a statement indicating whether it in fact maintains any funds owed to the debtor, the amount of those funds held, and whether the garnishee knows of any other party that holds property owed to the debtor.