(a) Subject to Sections 488.465 and 684.115, to attach a deposit account, the levying officer shall personally serve a copy of the writ of attachment and a notice of attachment on the financial institution with which the deposit account is maintained.
(b) The attachment lien that arises upon service of a writ of attachment and notice of attachment reaches only amounts in a deposit account at the time of service on the financial institution, including the amount of any deposit not yet finally collected, unless the deposit is returned unpaid to the financial institution.
(c) The levying officer shall serve a copy of the writ of attachment and a notice of attachment on any third person in whose name any deposit account described therein stands. That service shall be made personally or by mail as follows:
(1) At the time of levy or promptly thereafter, if the party seeking the levy informs the levying officer of that person and his, her, or its residence or business address.
(2) Promptly following the levying officer’s receipt of a garnishee’s memorandum if service was not accomplished pursuant to paragraph (1), if the garnishee’s memorandum identifies that person and his, her, or its residence or business address.
(d) The financial institution shall not honor a withdrawal request or a check or other order for the payment of money from the deposit account if presentation of that withdrawal request or item to the financial institution occurs during the time the attachment lien is in effect unless, following that withdrawal or payment, sufficient funds are available to cover the levy. For these purposes, a withdrawal from the deposit account to cover the financial institution’s standard fee or charge for processing the levy shall not be considered a payment of money from the account in violation of this subdivision.
(e) During the time the attachment lien is in effect, the financial institution is not liable to any person for any of the following:
(1) Performance of the duties of a garnishee under the levy.
(2) Nonpayment of a check or other order for the payment or transfer of money drawn or presented against the deposit account if the nonpayment is pursuant to the requirements of subdivision (d).
(3) Refusal to pay a withdrawal from the deposit account if the refusal is pursuant to the requirements of subdivision (d).
(f) For the purposes of this section, none of the following is a third person in whose name the deposit account stands:
(1) A person who is only a person named as the beneficiary of a Totten trust account.
(2) A person who is only a payee designated in a pay-on-death provision in an account pursuant to Section 18318.5 of the Financial Code or Section 5140 of the Probate Code, or other similar provision.
(3) A person who is only acting in a representative or custodial capacity with respect to benefits paid or payable by the United States government. Rather, accounts maintained by the representative or custodian shall be deemed to stand in that beneficiary’s name, and the amounts therein shall be covered by a levy against that beneficiary.
(g) For purposes of this section, final payment of a deposit shall be deemed to have occurred in accordance with Section 4215 or 11210 of the Commercial Code or with automated clearinghouse or Federal Reserve System rule, regulation, operating circular, or similar governing document, as applicable to the deposit. If, for any reason, a deposit is returned by the financial institution upon which it is drawn, that deposit shall not be deemed finally collected for purposes of this subdivision regardless of any later payment by the financial institution upon which the deposit is drawn.
(h) When a deposit account has been attached, as an alternative to paying the amount of the deposit account that is attached to the levying officer as required by Section 488.600, the financial institution may continue to hold the deposit account until the deposit account is levied upon after judgment in the action or is earlier released, the deposit account to be held in one of the following manners:
(1) If the entire deposit account is attached, the financial institution may hold the deposit account on the terms applicable before the attachment, subject to the requirements of subdivision (d).
(2) If less than the entire deposit account is attached:
(A) With the consent of the defendant, and any third person in whose name the deposit account stands, the financial institution may hold in the deposit account on the same terms an amount larger than the attached amount as necessary to avoid a penalty or a reduction of the rate of interest.
(B) If the defendant, and any third person in whose name the deposit account stands, do not consent as provided in subparagraph (A), the financial institution may hold the attached amount on the same terms affecting the deposit account before the attachment, subject to the requirements of subdivision (d).
(3) The financial institution may hold the attached deposit account in any other manner agreed upon by the plaintiff, the defendant, and any third person in whose name the deposit account stands.
(i) Subdivision (h) does not prevent a financial institution that is holding an attached deposit account as provided in subdivision (h) from paying the attached amount to the levying officer before the time the financial institution otherwise is required to pay the amount under subdivision (h).
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 484, Sec. 2. (AB 2364) Effective January 1, 2013.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018