§ 700.140.Levy Upon Deposit Account

Bank accounts are a common execution target, and § 700.140 spells out the mechanics in detail. The levying officer personally serves the financial institution holding the account. The resulting lien reaches only the amount in the account at the moment service occurs, including deposits not yet finally collected unless they later bounce back to the institution unpaid.

If someone other than the judgment debtor holds the account, the officer serves that third person too, personally or by mail — right away if the creditor already knows the address, or promptly after the officer receives a garnishee's memorandum identifying the person. Section 700.160 layers additional protection onto third-party-named accounts.

While the lien is in effect, the institution cannot honor a withdrawal, check, or other payment order if doing so would leave insufficient funds to cover the levy, though pulling out the institution's own standard processing fee doesn't count as a prohibited payment. In exchange for complying, the institution is shielded from liability to anyone for performing its garnishee duties, refusing a withdrawal, or dishonoring an item under these rules. The lien ends once the levied amount is paid over to the officer.

Subdivision (g) narrows who counts as a “third person in whose name” the account stands: a Totten trust beneficiary, a pay-on-death designee, and a person acting only as a representative or custodian for federal benefits are all excluded, with custodial accounts for federal benefits instead treated as standing in the beneficiary's own name.