Can a Judgment Creditor Collect From a Joint Bank Account of a Judgment Debtor?

Bank account garnishment is a strategy that a creditor can use to recover an unpaid debt after obtaining a legal judgment in most states. After a civil court awards a judgment to a private creditor, it can apply to the court for a writ of garnishment and then order your bank to freeze any account on which you are listed as an owner. The bank then sends any nonexempt funds to the court to pay against your debt. If you have a joint bank account, a judgment creditor may still typically execute a garnishment order.

Transfer of Funds

When a bank receives a garnishment order and freezes a joint bank account, the account manager in charge of fulfilling the garnishment order will typically only apply state monetary exemptions when determining the amount of funds available for garnishment. For example, an Ohio bank would consider all but $400 in the account as garnishable funds. The bank does not differentiate between funds contributed by you and those contributed by another account holder.

Filing an Exemption

Transfer of funds in your bank account to the court does not occur immediately after a bank freezes your account pursuant to a garnishment order. Most states allow about 30 days for you to file an exemption with the court. You may prevent the transfer of the other account holder's funds by proving that part of the funds belong to that owner, typically by providing a direct deposit record or a combination of a pay stub and a deposit slip.

Joint Debt

You cannot successfully obtain an exemption of the other account holder's funds if that person is a co-borrower listed on the debt contract or agreement. If the bank account co-owner is a joint debt borrower, he will be listed in the creditor's lawsuit and in the court's judgment record, and will be subject to garnishment for the debt.

Preventing Future Co-Owner Garnishment

If the other bank account owner is not a co-borrower or a party listed in the lawsuit and judgment, you can prevent having to file exemptions by switching her direct deposit to another bank. If that person receives a paper check, have her deposit the check in a bank account you do not co-own. Otherwise, because a judgment creditor can execute multiple bank garnishment orders until the judgment is satisfied or the state statute of limitations expires, you would have to file an exemption with the court each time the creditor freezes your account.