Except as otherwise provided by law and in the second paragraph of this article, garnishment under a writ of attachment or of sequestration is governed by the rules applicable to garnishment under a writ of fieri facias. In garnishment under a writ of sequestration the only property that can be seized is property the ownership or possession of which is claimed by the plaintiff or on which he claims a privilege.
Art. 3503.Garnishment Under Writs of Attachment Or of Sequestration
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title I. Provisional Remedies · Chapter 1. Attachment and Sequestration · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 3503 applies the ordinary garnishment rules to attachments and sequestrations, with one limit for sequestration garnishment: only property whose ownership or possession the plaintiff claims, or on which the plaintiff claims a privilege, can be seized in the third party's hands.
Full Text of Art. 3503
Plain-English Summary
Garnishment reaches property of a defendant that is sitting in someone else's hands, most often a bank holding the defendant's funds or an employer holding wages. Article 3503 borrows the garnishment procedure already used to enforce money judgments through a writ of fieri facias and applies it here, before judgment, when the plaintiff holds a writ of attachment or a writ of sequestration instead.
Garnishment under attachment works close to garnishment after judgment: the plaintiff is securing a money claim, so a garnishee can be reached for whatever belongs to the debtor, subject to the same procedural rules that apply after judgment.
Sequestration garnishment is narrower by its nature. Because sequestration exists to preserve specific property, not to secure a generic debt, Article 3503 limits what can be seized from a third party's hands to the particular property the plaintiff claims to own or possess, or the property on which the plaintiff claims a privilege. A landlord enforcing a lessor's privilege, for example, could not use sequestration garnishment to reach a bank account unrelated to the leased premises.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is garnishment in the context of a Louisiana writ of attachment?
It is the process of reaching a defendant's property that is held by a third party, such as a bank, rather than in the defendant's own possession, before judgment has been rendered.
Which garnishment rules apply to attachment and sequestration?
The same rules that govern garnishment under a writ of fieri facias, the post-judgment execution writ, except where this article or another law provides differently.
Can a sequestration garnishment reach any property the debtor has with a third party?
No. Article 3503 limits sequestration garnishment to property the plaintiff claims to own or possess, or property on which the plaintiff claims a privilege, unlike attachment garnishment which is not limited that way.
Why does sequestration garnishment have a narrower scope than attachment garnishment?
Because sequestration protects specific disputed property or a privilege over it, while attachment secures a money claim generally, so reaching unrelated property in a third party's hands would not fit sequestration's purpose.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: garnishment under writ of attachment LouisianaArticle 3503 Louisianasequestration garnishment third partypre-judgment garnishment Louisianawrit of fieri facias garnishment comparison