(a) Upon ex parte application by the plaintiff and proof by the plaintiff by affidavit or otherwise to the satisfaction of the proper court that the plaintiff has a right to attach order and that a third person has possession or control of property in which the defendant has an interest or is indebted to the defendant in an amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250), the court shall make an order directing the third person to appear before the court, or before a referee appointed by the court, at a time and place specified in the order, to answer concerning the property or debt. The affidavit in support of the plaintiff’s application may be based on the affiant’s information and belief.
(b) Not less than 10 days prior to the date set for the examination, a copy of the order shall be:
(1) Served personally on the third person.
(2) Served personally or by mail on the defendant.
(c) If the property or the debt is described in the affidavit or application for an order under subdivision (a) in a manner reasonably adequate to permit it to be identified, service of the order on the third person creates a lien on the defendant’s interest in the property in the third person’s possession or control or on the debt owed by the third person to the defendant. The lien continues for a period of one year from the date of the order unless extended or sooner terminated by the court.
(d) The order shall contain the following statement in 14-point boldface type if printed or in capital letters if typed: “NOTICE TO PERSON SERVED. If you fail to appear at the time and place specified in this order, you may be subject to arrest and punishment for contempt of court and the court may make an order requiring you to pay the reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the plaintiff in this proceeding.”
(e) The order is not effective unless, at the time it is served on the third person, the person serving the order tenders to the third person fees for the mileage necessary to be traveled from the third person’s residence to the place of examination. The fees shall be in the same amount generally provided for witnesses when legally required to attend civil proceedings in the court where the examination proceeding is to be conducted.
(Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1198, Sec. 57. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 70 of Ch. 1198.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018