Rule 64.Seizure of person or property

Current through January 1, 2025 · Last verified July 8, 2026

In one sentenceRule 64 makes West Virginia's state-law remedies for seizing a person or property to secure a judgment -- arrest, attachment, garnishment, sequestration, and similar devices -- available in civil actions, and sets specific deadlines for executing and returning each kind of seizure order.

Full Text of Rule 64

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b)

(a) Remedies – in general. At the commencement of and during the course of an action, all remedies providing for seizure of person or property for the purpose of securing satisfaction of the judgment ultimately to be entered in the action are available under the circumstances and in the manner provided by the law of the State existing at the time the remedy is sought.

(b) Specific kinds of remedies. The remedies available under this rule include the following, subject to the qualifications:

(1) an order for the seizure of specific personal property in an action to recover possession of such property shall be executed promptly and a return made thereon within 21 days after issuance of the order;

(2) an order of civil arrest or attachment shall be executed promptly and a return made thereon within 30 days after issuance of the order; and

(3) a garnishee shall serve an answer within 90 days after service of the order of attachment, unless the answer is waived. The remedies thus available include arrest, attachment, garnishment, order of seizure of specific personal property, sequestration and other corresponding or equivalent remedies, however designated and regardless of whether the remedy is ancillary to an action or shall be obtained by an independent action.

End

Amendment History

The current West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure took effect January 1, 2025, as part of a rewrite that modernized the rules’ numbering and structure. West Virginia does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own January 1, 2025 update; for the underlying adopting order and any later amendments, see the West Virginia Judiciary’s compiled rules page.

Plain-English Summary

Sometimes a plaintiff needs to secure the ability to collect a judgment before the case is even over — by having property seized, or a defendant's assets attached, so they don't disappear before trial ends. Rule 64 doesn't invent these remedies; it makes whatever West Virginia law already provides for seizing a person or property available in a civil action, under the same circumstances state law allows.

The rule lists the available devices — arrest, attachment, garnishment, an order seizing specific personal property, sequestration, and other equivalent remedies, whether pursued within the pending action or through an independent one — and adds its own execution deadlines: an order seizing specific personal property has to be executed and returned within 21 days of issuance; an order of civil arrest or attachment within 30 days; and a garnishee has 90 days after being served to answer, unless that answer is waived.

Frequently Asked Questions

What remedies does Rule 64 make available to secure a judgment before trial ends?

Arrest, attachment, garnishment, an order seizing specific personal property, sequestration, and other corresponding remedies, available under the same circumstances West Virginia law otherwise allows.

How quickly does a seizure order have to be executed and returned?

An order to seize specific personal property within 21 days of issuance; an order of civil arrest or attachment within 30 days.

How long does a garnishee have to answer?

90 days after being served with the order of attachment, unless the answer is waived.

Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the official West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure (W. Va. R. Civ. P. 64). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (W. Va. Const. art. VIII, § 3). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: prejudgment attachmentgarnishment West Virginiasequestration order