Article 10: Attachment, Garnishment, Injunctions, Receivers, and Replevin · Last amended 1980 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section gives the plaintiff twenty days to file an application challenging a garnishee’s answer or noncompliance, sets that application and the garnishee’s answer as the pleadings for trial on the garnishee’s liability, and discharges the garnishee automatically if the plaintiff misses the deadline.
Full Text of § 25-1030
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If the garnishee appears and answers and his or her disclosure is not satisfactory to the plaintiff, or if he or she fails to comply with the order of the court, by delivering the property and paying the money owing into court, or giving the undertaking required in section 25-1029, the plaintiff may file an application within twenty days for determination of the liability of the garnishee. The application may controvert the answer of the garnishee, or may allege facts showing the existence of indebtedness of the garnishee to the defendant or of the property and credits of the defendant in the hands of the garnishee. The answer of the garnishee, if one has been filed, and the application for determination of the
liability of the garnishee shall constitute the pleadings upon which trial of the issue of the liability of the garnishee shall be had. If the plaintiff fails to file such application within twenty days, the garnishee shall be released and discharged.
A garnishee’s answer does not automatically end the matter if the plaintiff thinks it is wrong, or if the garnishee refuses to follow through on what section 25-1029 requires. Section 25-1030 gives the plaintiff a specific window to push back: twenty days to file an application asking the court to determine the garnishee’s liability. That window opens whenever the garnishee’s disclosure is not satisfactory to the plaintiff, or the garnishee fails to comply with the court’s order to deliver property, pay money into court, or post the undertaking described in section 25-1029.
The application can take one of two forms, or both. It may controvert — directly dispute — what the garnishee said in the answer. Or it may allege facts showing that the garnishee owes the defendant money, or holds the defendant’s property and credits, regardless of what the garnishee’s answer claimed. Whichever form the application takes, it becomes part of the record: the garnishee’s answer, if one was filed, together with the plaintiff’s application, make up the pleadings on which the trial of the garnishee’s liability proceeds.
The twenty-day deadline carries a real consequence. If the plaintiff does not file the application in time, the garnishee is released and discharged from the case. A plaintiff who is dissatisfied with a garnishee’s answer cannot sit on that dissatisfaction indefinitely and still expect to pursue the garnishee later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a plaintiff have to challenge a garnishee’s answer in Nebraska?
Twenty days from the point the plaintiff can file an application for determination of the garnishee’s liability, whether the garnishee’s disclosure is unsatisfactory or the garnishee has not complied with the court’s order.
What can the plaintiff’s application against the garnishee say?
It may controvert the garnishee’s answer, or allege facts showing the garnishee owes a debt to the defendant or holds the defendant’s property and credits.
What documents serve as the pleadings when a garnishee’s liability goes to trial?
The garnishee’s answer, if one was filed, together with the plaintiff’s application for determination of liability.
What happens if the plaintiff misses the twenty-day deadline?
The garnishee is released and discharged from the garnishment proceeding.
Does the plaintiff have to file this application if the garnishee fails to answer at all?
Section 25-1028 already addresses a garnishee’s complete failure to answer through a presumption of indebtedness; section 25-1030 addresses disputing an answer that was filed or noncompliance with an order under section 25-1029.
What does it mean to “controvert” the garnishee’s answer?
It means disputing the truth or completeness of what the garnishee stated in the answer, as opposed to accepting the answer and moving straight to enforcement of it.
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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