§ 25-1010.Attachment; garnishment; affidavit; summons; answer; duties of garnishee; written interrogatories; financial institution; service of process; designated location; Department of Banking and Finance; immunity.

Article 10: Attachment, Garnishment, Injunctions, Receivers, and Replevin · Last amended 2015 · Last verified July 22, 2026

In one sentenceThis section lets a plaintiff garnish a third party who holds the defendant’s property or owes the defendant money by filing an affidavit and having the court issue interrogatories the garnishee must answer, and it sets special service rules for financial institutions along with a bar on garnishing wages before judgment.

Full Text of § 25-1010

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(1) When an affidavit is filed in a civil action containing the necessary allegations of an affidavit of attachment and in addition allegations that the affiant has good reason to and does believe that any person, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation to be named has property of and is indebted to the defendant, describing such property, in his or her possession that cannot be levied upon by attachment, a judge of any district court or county court may direct the clerk to issue a summons and order requiring such person, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation as garnishee to answer written interrogatories, to be furnished by the plaintiff and attached to such summons and order, respecting the matters set forth in section 25-1026. All answers must be given in writing but do not need to be verified or given under oath. All answers so given will be deemed to be true and subject to all of the penalties of perjury in the event of willful falsification.

(2) The summons and order referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be returnable within five days from the date of the issuance thereof and shall require the garnishee to answer within ten days from the date of service upon him or her. The order shall inform the garnishee (a) of the penalties that may be imposed in the event of willful falsification, (b) that he or she is obligated to hold the property of every description and the credits of the defendant in his or her possession or under his or her control at the time of the service of the order and the interrogatories until further direction from the court, (c) of his or her ability to obtain discharge from liability to the defendant under section 25-1027, and (d) of the ability of the court to enter judgment against him or her upon failure to answer the interrogatories as provided in section 25-1028. If the answers to the interrogatories identify property of the defendant in the possession of the garnishee, the clerk shall mail to the last- known address of the defendant copies of the garnishment summons and answers to interrogatories within five days after the return of the answers to the interrogatories.

(3) Prior to final judgment in an action, no order of garnishment shall issue for wages due from an employer to an employee.

(4)(a) In any case involving service of a garnishment summons on a financial institution where deposits are received within this state, the financial institution shall (i) if its main chartered office is located in this state, designate its main chartered office for the service of summons or (ii) if its main chartered office is located in another state, designate any one of its offices or branches or its agent for service of process in this state for service of summons. The designation of a main chartered office or an office or branch or the agent for service of process under this subdivision shall be made by filing a notice of designation with the Department of

Banking and Finance, shall contain the physical address of the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process designated, and shall be effective upon placement on the department website. The department shall post the list of such designated main chartered offices and offices or branches or agents for service of process on its website for access by the public. A financial institution may modify or revoke a designation made under this subdivision by filing the modification or revocation with the department. The modification or revocation shall be effective when the department's website has been updated to reflect the modification or revocation, except that the judgment creditor may rely upon the designation that was modified or revoked during the thirty-day period following the effective date of the modification or revocation if the summons is timely served upon the financial institution. The department shall update its website to reflect a filing by a financial institution pursuant to this subdivision or a modification or revocation filed by a financial institution pursuant to this subdivision within ten business days following the filing by the financial institution. The department website shall reflect the date its online records for each financial institution have most recently been updated.

(b) If a financial institution where deposits are received has designated its main chartered office or one of its offices or branches or its agent for service of process for the service of summons, service made on the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process so designated shall be valid and effective as to any property or credits of the defendant in the possession or control of the main chartered office of the financial institution in this state and any of the financial institution offices or branches located within this state. If service of summons is not made on the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process designated by the financial institution, but instead is made at another office or branch of the financial institution located in Nebraska, the financial institution, in its discretion, and without violating any obligation to its customer, may elect to treat the service of summons as valid and effective as to any property or credits of the defendant in the possession or control of the main chartered office of the financial institution in this state and any of the financial institution offices or branches located within this state. In the absence of such an election, the financial institution shall file a statement with the interrogatories that the summons was not served at the financial institution's designated location for receiving service of summons and, therefore, was not processed, and shall provide the address at which the financial institution is to receive service of summons.

(c) For purposes of this subsection, financial institution means a bank, savings bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union whether chartered by the United States, the Department of Banking and Finance, or a foreign state agency.

(d) The notice of designation, modification, or revocation shall be made by a financial institution on forms prescribed by the department.

(e) The Department of Banking and Finance, any employee of the department, or any person acting on behalf of the department shall be immune from civil and criminal liability for any acts or omissions which occur as a result of the requirements of this subsection.

Source

R.S.1867, Code § 207, p. 427; R.S.1913, § 7741; C.S.1922, § 8685; C.S.1929, § 20-1010; R.S.1943, § 25-1010; Laws 1951, c. 67, § 1, p. 202; Laws 1955, c. 85, § 1, p. 254; Laws 1959, c. 101, § 1, p. 422; Laws 1971, LB 834, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 597, § 6; Laws 1984, LB 13, § 37; Laws 1991, LB 732, § 43; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 168; Laws 2015, LB195, § 1.

Plain-English Summary

Garnishment reaches property of the defendant that is sitting in someone else’s hands — a bank holding the defendant’s deposits, or a business that owes the defendant money — property that ordinary attachment under section 25-1008 cannot reach by physical seizure. Section 25-1010 sets up that separate process.

It starts with an affidavit containing everything an attachment affidavit needs, plus a statement that the affiant has good reason to believe, and does believe, that a named person or business holds property of the defendant, or owes the defendant money, that cannot be reached by ordinary attachment. On that showing, a judge can direct the clerk to issue a summons and order requiring the garnishee to answer written interrogatories the plaintiff supplies. Those answers must be in writing, though they need not be sworn — the section instead makes willful falsification punishable as perjury. The summons is returnable within five days, and the garnishee has ten days from service to answer. The order itself has to warn the garnishee about the penalties for lying, the duty to hold the defendant’s property and credits until the court says otherwise, the path to being discharged from liability, and the risk of a judgment against the garnishee for failing to answer. If the answers turn up property of the defendant, the clerk mails the defendant copies of the summons and answers within five days.

The section draws one clear line before judgment: no garnishment order can reach wages owed by an employer to an employee until there is a final judgment in the case.

A large part of the section deals with financial institutions specifically. A bank, savings bank, savings and loan, or credit union doing business in Nebraska has to designate an office, branch, or agent for receiving garnishment summonses, filed with the Department of Banking and Finance and posted on the department’s website. Service at that designated location reaches property and credits at every office of the institution in the state; service elsewhere is valid only if the institution chooses to treat it that way, and otherwise the institution must flag that the summons went to the wrong place. The Department of Banking and Finance and anyone acting on its behalf is immune from liability for anything that happens because of these designation requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is garnishment, and how is it different from attachment?

Garnishment reaches the defendant’s property or money that is in someone else’s hands — like a bank account or a debt owed to the defendant — instead of property the sheriff can physically seize under an ordinary attachment.

What does the plaintiff have to file to start garnishment?

An affidavit containing the same showing required for attachment, plus a statement that the plaintiff has good reason to believe, and does believe, that a named person or business holds property of, or owes money to, the defendant.

How long does a garnishee have to answer the interrogatories?

Ten days from the date of service, and the summons and order itself are returnable within five days from issuance.

Can I garnish someone’s wages before I win my case?

No. Section 25-1010 bars any order of garnishment for wages owed by an employer to an employee before there is a final judgment in the action.

Do garnishee answers to interrogatories need to be notarized?

No. The answers must be in writing but do not need to be verified or given under oath; willful falsification is instead punishable in the same manner as perjury.

How does a bank know where to send a garnishment summons for accounts held at multiple branches?

Financial institutions must designate an office, branch, or agent for service with the Department of Banking and Finance, which posts the designation on its website; service at that designated location reaches the institution’s property and credits statewide.

What happens if I serve a garnishment summons on the wrong branch of a bank?

The bank may, at its discretion, choose to treat the service as valid anyway; if it does not, it must file a statement with its interrogatory answers explaining that the summons went to the wrong location and provide the correct address.

Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. · Official source

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