(a) A writ of attachment shall be directed to a levying officer in the county in which property of the defendant described in the writ may be located and to any registered process server.
§ 488.020.Writ Directed to Levying Officer and Process Server; Duty of Levying Officer to Levy In Accordance With Instructions
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 8. Levy Procedures; Lien of Attachment; Management and Disposition of Attached Property · Article 1. General Provisions · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 488.020 directs a writ of attachment to a levying officer in the county where the defendant's property is located (or to a registered process server), requires the officer to levy without delay on the plaintiff's written instructions, and requires simultaneous service of an unserved summons and complaint.
Full Text of § 488.020
(b) Upon the receipt of written instructions from the plaintiff's attorney of record or, if the plaintiff has no attorney of record, from the plaintiff, the levying officer to whom the writ is directed and delivered shall levy the writ without delay in the manner provided in this chapter on the property described in the writ or so much thereof as is clearly sufficient to satisfy the amount to be secured by the attachment. The levying officer is not liable for a determination made in good faith under this subdivision.
(c) If a copy of the summons and complaint has not previously been served on the defendant, the instructions to the levying officer shall instruct the levying officer to make the service at the same time the levying officer serves the defendant with a copy of the writ of attachment.
Plain-English Summary
Once a writ issues, someone has to carry it out. Section 488.020 identifies who: a levying officer (typically a sheriff or marshal) in the county where the defendant's property sits, or alternatively a registered process server. The officer levies "without delay" once given written instructions from the plaintiff's attorney, or from the plaintiff directly if unrepresented, and is not liable for a good-faith determination made while doing so.
Subdivision (c) adds a practical safeguard: if the defendant has not yet been served with the summons and complaint, the plaintiff's instructions must direct the officer to serve those documents at the same time the writ is served. That keeps a defendant from having property seized before formally learning that a lawsuit exists.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who carries out a writ of attachment in California?
Section 488.020 directs the writ to a levying officer in the county where the defendant's property may be located, or to a registered process server, who levies once given the plaintiff's written instructions.
Can property be levied on before the defendant is served with the complaint?
If the summons and complaint have not already been served, § 488.020(c) requires the plaintiff's instructions to direct the levying officer to serve them at the same time as the writ.
Amendment History
Repealed and added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1198, Sec. 50. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 70 of Ch. 1198.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: who levies a writ of attachment californiasheriff levy writ of attachmentservice of writ and summons together california