Rule 3-645.1.Garnishment of account in financial institution

Federal law shields certain benefit payments — Social Security among them — from garnishment once they land in a bank account, and Rule 3-645.1 builds that protection into Maryland's garnishment procedure. It borrows its key terms, including "account," "account review," "financial institution," and "protected amount," directly from 31 C.F.R. § 212.3, and it applies whenever a garnished account is subject to that federal regulation. Rule 3-645 still governs the garnishment itself, but where the two conflict, this rule wins, and any federal requirement not already covered by Rule 3-645 applies on top of it.

The writ served on the financial institution has to reflect that framework. Unless a federal Notice of Right to Garnish Federal Benefits is attached, the writ must direct the institution not to hold a protected amount, not to hold protected funds that arrive after service, and to otherwise follow 31 C.F.R. Part 212. It also has to tell the debtor that some federal benefits may be automatically shielded and won't be held at all, and that a claim of exemption for anything not automatically protected has to be filed within 30 days of service on the garnishee. When the garnishee answers, it only has to say whether a protected amount sits in the account — not how much — though it still must specify any non-protected amount it's holding as of the account review date. If everything in the account turns out to be protected, the garnishee asks, along with its answer, for judgment ending the garnishment.