G.L. c. 214, § 3(6), (7), (8), (9)
Reach and apply in Massachusetts — the equity action for assets attachment cannot touch
A claim in Massachusetts trial courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
A judgment is worth what can be collected against it, and Massachusetts collection tools have a gap. Attachment under Mass. R. Civ. P. 4.1 reaches real estate and tangible personal property. Trustee process under Rule 4.2 reaches money and goods a third party holds for the debtor — a bank account, wages.
Neither reaches a debtor's interest in a closely held company, a beneficial interest under a trust, an interest in an estate, or an insurer's obligation to indemnify. Reach and apply is the action for those.
It is a cause of action in equity, not a remedy, and that distinction has practical consequences at every stage.
What the claim is
Someone owes you money, they have assets, and those assets cannot be seized by ordinary attachment or execution.
Where the right comes from
G.L. c. 214, § 3, which gives the Supreme Judicial Court and the Superior Court jurisdiction in equity over, among others:
- § 3(6) — actions by creditors to reach and apply, in payment of a debt, any property, right, title or interest of the debtor that cannot be reached to be attached or taken on execution in a legal action;
- § 3(7) — actions to reach and apply shares or interests in corporations;
- § 3(8) — actions to reach property fraudulently conveyed; and
- § 3(9) — actions to reach an obligation of an insurer.
What a plaintiff has to prove
- A debt owed by the principal defendant to the plaintiff — either reduced to judgment or established in the same action;
- Property, a right, a title or an interest belonging to the debtor;
- That the asset cannot be reached by attachment or execution at law; and
- That its value can be ascertained — by sale, by appraisal, or by ordinary court procedure.
Element three is jurisdictional in substance. Equity acts where law cannot, and a plaintiff who could have attached the asset has no business in a reach and apply action.
The two-defendant structure
This is the part that confuses people, and it is the key to the whole action.
A reach and apply case has two kinds of defendant.
The principal defendant — the debtor, who owes the money.
The reach-and-apply defendant — the person or entity holding the asset. A corporation whose shares the debtor owns, a trustee, an insurer, an estate's executor.
The reach-and-apply defendant is not liable for the debt. They are before the court because they hold something of the debtor's, and the judgment directs them to turn it over or account for its value. Naming a company as a reach-and-apply defendant is not an allegation that the company did anything wrong.
The reach-and-apply injunction
The action's practical power comes at the beginning rather than the end. A plaintiff may seek an injunction at filing restraining the debtor from transferring, encumbering or disposing of the asset while the case runs.
That is what stops a debtor from selling their interest in the business the week after being sued, and it is why the action is filed early rather than after judgment.
The standard is the ordinary preliminary injunction standard, with the usual requirement of a likelihood of success on the underlying debt.
What it reaches, and what it does not
Reaches: shares in a close corporation; an LLC membership interest; a partnership interest; a beneficial interest under a trust, subject to spendthrift limits; an interest in an estate; a debt owed to the debtor that is not yet due or is contingent; an insurer's obligation to pay; property fraudulently conveyed away, under § 3(8).
Does not reach: anything attachable at law, because equity has no role; exempt property, under the exemption statutes; and interests whose value cannot be ascertained by any of the statutory methods.
How long you have to file
The underlying debt's limitations period governs. Reach and apply is a collection mechanism, and it carries no period of its own — a contract debt runs six years, a tort three.
Where the claim is that assets were fraudulently conveyed, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act's own periods apply to that aspect.
What has to happen before you file
Nothing. The debt need not be reduced to judgment first — § 3(6) permits the creditor to establish the debt and reach the asset in the same action, which is why the injunction is available at the outset.
What the claim pays
Application of the asset's value to the debt. The court may order the interest sold, order the holder to pay over what it owes the debtor, or appoint a receiver to realise the value.
No damages against the reach-and-apply defendant, who is a stakeholder rather than a wrongdoer — unless that defendant disposed of the asset in violation of an injunction, which is a contempt.
No multiplier, and no attorney's fees, absent a contract or another statute.
Which court
The Superior Court and the Supreme Judicial Court, concurrently, in equity — that is what c. 214 § 3 provides. The District Court has no general equity jurisdiction of this kind, which means a reach and apply action goes to the Superior Court regardless of the amount.
How it differs from the tools it sits beside
Attachment (Rule 4.1) is a remedy in an existing action, securing a judgment against real estate or tangible property. It requires a court order on notice and a showing of a reasonable likelihood of recovery.
Trustee process (Rule 4.2) is a remedy reaching money or goods a third party holds — bank accounts, wages, accounts receivable — with statutory exemptions.
Reach and apply is an action. It has its own complaint, its own defendants, and its own equitable jurisdiction. It exists because the other two stop where they stop.
Supplementary process under G.L. c. 224 is different again: a post-judgment proceeding to examine a judgment debtor about their assets and order payments. It discovers assets; reach and apply captures a specific one.
Common defenses
- The asset can be attached at law, which defeats equity jurisdiction.
- No debt, or the debt is not owed to this plaintiff.
- The asset does not belong to the debtor — the most common defence raised by the reach-and-apply defendant.
- The value cannot be ascertained by sale, appraisal or ordinary procedure.
- Exemption, under the statutes protecting particular property from creditors.
- A spendthrift provision, for a beneficial interest under a trust.
- Limitations, on the underlying debt.
What people get wrong
It is a cause of action, not a motion. You file a complaint and name defendants.
Naming a company does not accuse it of anything. The reach-and-apply defendant is a holder, not a wrongdoer, and it is not liable for the debt.
It is not trustee process. Trustee process reaches money a third party owes the debtor now. Reach and apply exists for the interests trustee process cannot capture.
You do not need a judgment first. The debt and the asset can be established in one action.
The injunction is the point. Filing early and freezing the asset is what makes the action worth bringing; filing after the interest has been sold usually is not.
Where it came from
Equity's oldest function was to act where the common law had no writ. A creditor at law could seize land and goods, and that was the extent of it — which worked when wealth was land and goods and stopped working as soon as wealth became shares, beneficial interests and contractual rights.
The creditor's bill was equity's answer: a proceeding to compel a debtor to apply intangible assets to a debt, with the holder of the asset brought before the court so the decree could bind them. Massachusetts codified it in c. 214 § 3 and enumerated the categories, which is why the modern statute reads as a list of specific situations rather than a general principle.
The structure has held up unusually well, because the problem it solves has grown rather than shrunk. A defendant whose assets are a membership interest in an LLC, a beneficial interest in a family trust, and a receivable from a related company owns a great deal and can be attached for almost nothing. Reach and apply is what a judgment creditor uses when the sheriff comes back empty-handed — and, more usefully, what a plaintiff files at the outset so the assets are still there when the judgment arrives.
Common questions
What is a reach-and-apply defendant?
The person or company holding an asset that belongs to the debtor. They are before the court as a stakeholder, not because they owe you anything.
How is this different from an attachment?
Attachment is a remedy that secures real estate or tangible property in an existing case. Reach and apply is a separate equitable action for assets attachment cannot touch.
Can I reach someone's interest in a business?
Yes. Shares in a close corporation, an LLC membership interest and a partnership interest are the usual targets, under § 3(6) and § 3(7).
Do I need a judgment first?
No. The debt and the asset can be established in the same action, which is what makes the early injunction possible.
Which court?
The Superior Court, or the Supreme Judicial Court, in equity.
Can I stop the debtor selling the asset while the case runs?
Yes — a reach-and-apply injunction, sought at filing, is the standard first step.