A person who, pursuant to an execution or order, pays or delivers, to the judgment creditor or a sheriff or receiver, money or other personal property in which a judgment debtor has or will have an interest, or so pays a debt he owes the judgment debtor, is discharged from his obligation to the judgment debtor to the extent of the payment or delivery.
§ 5209.Discharge of garnishee’s obligation.
Article 52. Enforcement of Money Judgments · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceProtects anyone who pays money or delivers property to a judgment creditor, sheriff, or receiver under a valid execution or court order by discharging that person's separate obligation to the judgment debtor to the same extent.
Full Text of CPLR 5209
Plain-English Summary
A garnishee caught between two demands, the judgment debtor to whom it owes a debt, and the enforcement machinery seeking payment on the creditor's behalf, needs certainty that paying one satisfies the other. CPLR 5209 supplies that certainty: a person who pays or delivers money or property to the judgment creditor, a sheriff, or a receiver pursuant to an execution or court order is discharged from the underlying obligation to the judgment debtor, to the extent of what was paid or delivered.
The rule covers both directions a garnishee might act, paying a debt it independently owed the judgment debtor, or delivering property in which the debtor has or will have an interest. Either way, compliance with the enforcement process closes the book on that piece of the garnishee's liability to the debtor.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I pay a sheriff instead of the judgment debtor, am I still liable to the debtor?
No. CPLR 5209 discharges your obligation to the judgment debtor to the extent of what you paid or delivered under a valid execution or court order.
Does CPLR 5209 protect a garnishee who delivers property, not just money?
Yes. It covers paying money and delivering personal property in which the judgment debtor has or will have an interest.
What if a garnishee pays the wrong amount to the sheriff?
CPLR 5209 only discharges the obligation to the extent of the payment or delivery made, so a garnishee who pays too little remains liable for the rest.
Why does the law need a discharge rule for garnishees?
Without it, a garnishee forced to pay a creditor's execution could face a separate claim from the judgment debtor for the same debt. CPLR 5209 forecloses that double exposure.
Does CPLR 5209 apply to payments made directly to the judgment creditor?
Yes. It covers payments or deliveries made to the judgment creditor as well as to a sheriff or receiver.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is based upon CPA § 794(3) and parts of §§ 684(2) and 687-a(2).
Sections 684(2) and 687-a(2) provided that payments by a garnishee to a sheriff pursuant to an execution issued under those sections constituted a bar to suit by the judgment debtor for the amounts paid. Section 794(3) provided that a payment to the judgment creditor pursuant to a permissive or mandatory order discharges the indebtedness of the garnishee to the extent of the payment. There was no similar provision with regard to the delivery of property pursuant to an order under § 796 or pursuant to an execution. The provision in former § 794(3) that a discharge is not effective “against a transferee from the judgment debtor in good faith and for a valuable consideration of whose rights the third party had actual or constructive notice prior to the entry of the order” has been deleted. This section refers only to the discharge of obligations to the judgment debtor; a garnishee’s obligation to other persons is not affected. Where a garnishee has the notice contemplated, he is to that extent, no longer indebted to the judgment debtor but to a third person. If the garnishee receives notice of the transfer after the entry of the order, § 794(3) would still permit him to discharge his indebtedness by paying the creditor of the transferor—which appears to be a harsh result to the “transferee in good faith and for a valuable consideration”; the same result would obtain even where the transfer was made before the order was entered and, while the garnishee was notified thereafter, the garnishee had no notice of the entry of the order when he received notice of the transfer. It should be noted that the discharge provisions in §§ 684(2) and 687-a(2) do not contain the transferee exception.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: garnishee discharge obligation New Yorkdoes paying a sheriff release me from debtCPLR 5209 garnishee liabilityjudgment execution payment discharge