812.13.Payments by garnishee; releases.

Section 812.13 gives a garnishee a clean way out once its answer reveals a debt owed to the defendant. The garnishee may pay the debt, or enough of it to cover the plaintiff’s claim and disbursements up to $40, to the clerk of court. Doing so fully discharges the garnishee’s liability for whatever amount is paid. If the plaintiff asks in writing for that payment before the garnishee volunteers it, the garnishee must comply within five days of receiving the request. When the disclosed debt is not yet due, the same process applies once it does become due.

The section also handles what happens if the garnishee ignores a payment request. A garnishee who fails to pay within five days exposes itself to a judgment for the disclosed amount, once due, which the plaintiff can collect by execution either before or after judgment in the underlying case. If the principal action has not yet produced a judgment, that execution directs the sheriff to hold the collected money in court pending the outcome, rather than handing it straight to the plaintiff.

If the garnishee receives no payment request and chooses not to pay the clerk voluntarily, it holds the money until the court orders otherwise, and any stipulation the plaintiff and defendant reach about the money must be filed with the court. In the end, the funds follow the case’s outcome: they go to the plaintiff once final judgment favors the plaintiff, up to the amount owed, with any balance going to whoever is entitled to it, and they go to the defendant if judgment goes against the plaintiff instead.