§ 25-1056 — Garnishment in aid of execution; when issued; procedure; continuing lien; when invalid; priority; financial institution; service of process; designated location; Department of Banking and Finance; immunity

Nebraska § 25-1056

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 25: Courts; Civil Procedure

Text

(1) In all cases when a judgment has been entered by any court of record and the judgment creditor or his or her agent or attorney has filed an affidavit setting forth the amount due on the judgment, interest, and costs in the office of the clerk of the court where the judgment has been entered and that he or she has good reason to and does believe that any person, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, naming him, her, or it, has property of and is indebted to the judgment debtor, the clerk shall issue a summons which shall set forth the amount due on the judgment, interest, and costs as shown in the affidavit and require such person, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, as garnishee, to answer written interrogatories to be furnished by the plaintiff and to be attached to such summons respecting the matters set forth in section 25-1026 . The summons shall be returnable within ten days from the date of its issuance and shall require the garnishee to answer within ten days from the date of service upon him or her. Except when wages are involved, the garnishee shall hold the property of every description and the credits of the defendant in his or her possession or under his or her control at the time of the service of the summons and interrogatories until the further order of the court. If the only property in the possession or under the control of the garnishee at the time of the service of the summons and interrogatories is credits of the defendant and the amount of such credits is not in dispute by the garnishee, then such garnishee shall only hold the credits of the defendant in his or her possession or under his or her control at the time of the service of the summons and interrogatories to the extent of the amount of the judgment, interest, and costs set forth in the summons until further order of the court. When wages are involved, the garnishee shall pay to the employee all disposable earnings exempted from garnishment by statute, and any disposable earnings remaining after such payment shall be retained by the garnishee until further order of the court. Thereafter, the service of the summons and interrogatories and all further proceedings shall be in all respects the same as is provided for in sections 25-1011 and 25-1026 to 25-1031.01 unless inconsistent with this section.
(2) If it appears from the answer of the garnishee that the judgment debtor was an employee of the garnishee, that the garnishee otherwise owed earnings to the judgment debtor when the garnishment order was served, or that earnings would be owed within sixty days thereafter and there is not a successful written objection to the order or the answer of the garnishee filed, on application by the judgment creditor, the court shall order that the nonexempt earnings, if any, withheld by the garnishee after service of the order be transferred to the court for delivery to the judgment creditor who is entitled to such earnings. Except for garnishments in support of a person, the payments may be made payable to the judgment creditor or assignee and shall be forwarded to the issuing court to record the judgment payment prior to the court delivering the payment to the judgment creditor or assignee. The court shall, upon application of the judgment creditor, further order that the garnishment is a continuing lien against the nonexempt earnings of the judgment debtor. An order of continuing lien on nonexempt earnings entered pursuant to this section shall require the garnishee to continue to withhold the nonexempt earnings of the judgment debtor for as long as the continuing lien remains in effect.
Beginning with the pay period during which the writ was served and while the continuing lien remains in effect, the garnishee shall deliver the nonexempt earnings to the court from which the garnishment was issued for each pay period or on a monthly basis if the garnishee so desires and shall deliver to the judgment debtor his or her exempt earnings for each pay period.
(3) A continuing lien ordered pursuant to this section shall be invalid and shall have no force and effect upon the occurrence of any of the following:
(a) The underlying judgment is satisfied in full or vacated or expires;
(b) The judgment debtor leaves the garnishee's employ for more than sixty days;
(c) The judgment creditor releases the garnishment;
(d) The proceedings are stayed by a court of competent jurisdiction, including the United States Bankruptcy Court;
(e) The judgment debtor has not earned any nonexempt earnings for at least sixty days;
(f) The court orders that the garnishment be quashed; or
(g) Ninety days have expired since service of the writ. The judgment creditor may extend the lien for a second ninety-day period by filing with the court a notice of extension during the fifteen days immediately prior to the expiration of the initial lien, and the continuing lien in favor of the initial judgment creditor shall continue for a second ninety-day period.
(4)(a) To determine priority, garnishments and liens shall rank according to time of service.
(b) Garnishments, liens, and wage assignments which are not for the support of a person shall be inferior to wage assignments for the support of a person. Garnishments which are not for the support of a person and liens shall be inferior to garnishments for the support of a person.
(5) Only one order of continuing lien against earnings due the judgment debtor shall be in effect at one time. If an employee's wages are already being garnished pursuant to a continuing lien at the time of service of a garnishment upon an employer, the answer to garnishment interrogatories shall include such information along with the date of termination of such continuing lien and the title of the case from which such garnishment is issued. Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, a continuing lien obtained pursuant to this section shall have priority over any subsequent garnishment or wage assignment.
(6)(a) In any case involving service of a garnishment summons on a financial institution where deposits are received within this state, the financial institution shall (i) if its main chartered office is located in this state, designate its main chartered office for the service of summons or (ii) if its main chartered office is located in another state, designate any one of its offices or branches or its agent for service of process in this state for service of summons. The designation of a main chartered office or an office or branch or the agent for service of process under this subdivision shall be made by filing a notice of designation with the Department of Banking and Finance, shall contain the physical address of the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process designated, and shall be effective upon placement on the department website. The department shall post the list of such designated main chartered offices and offices or branches or agents for service of process on its website for access by the public. A financial institution may modify or revoke a designation made under this subdivision by filing the modification or revocation with the department. The modification or revocation shall be effective when the department's website has been updated to reflect the modification or revocation, except that the judgment creditor may rely upon the designation that was modified or revoked during the thirty-day period following the effective date of the modification or revocation if the summons is timely served upon the financial institution. The department shall update its website to reflect a filing by a financial institution pursuant to this subdivision or a modification or revocation filed by a financial institution pursuant to this subdivision within ten business days following the filing by the financial institution. The department website shall reflect the date its online records for each financial institution have most recently been updated.
(b) If a financial institution where deposits are received has designated its main chartered office or one of its offices or branches or its agent for service of process for the service of summons, service made on the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process so designated shall be valid and effective as to any property or credits of the defendant in the possession or control of the main chartered office of the financial institution in this state and any of the financial institution offices or branches located within this state. If service of summons is not made on the main chartered office or the office or branch or the agent for service of process designated by the financial institution, but instead is made at another office or branch of the financial institution located in Nebraska, the financial institution, in its discretion, and without violating any obligation to its customer, may elect to treat the service of summons as valid and effective as to any property or credits of the defendant in the possession or control of the main chartered office of the financial institution in this state and any of the financial institution offices or branches located within this state. In the absence of such an election, the financial institution shall file a statement with the interrogatories that the summons was not served at the financial institution's designated location for receiving service of summons and, therefore, was not processed, and shall provide the address at which the financial institution is to receive service of summons.
(c) For purposes of this subsection, financial institution means a bank, savings bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union whether chartered by the United States, the Department of Banking and Finance, or a foreign state agency.
(d) The notice of designation, modification, or revocation shall be made by a financial institution on forms prescribed by the Department of Banking and Finance.
(e) The Department of Banking and Finance, any employee of the department, or any person acting on behalf of the department shall be immune from civil and criminal liability for any acts or omissions which occur as a result of the requirements of this subsection.
(7)(a) For purposes of this section:
(i) Corporate entity means any corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or series limited liability company or any other corporate entity that is required by the statutes of Nebraska to have a registered agent for service of process in Nebraska; and
(ii) Corporate entity does not include any financial institution described in subsection (6) of this section.
(b) In any case involving service of a garnishment summons on a corporate entity against wages due to a judgment debtor from the corporate entity, service shall be made upon the corporate entity in accordance with section 25-509.01 or in a manner mutually agreed upon by the garnishee and judgment creditor.
(c) If service is not made upon the corporate entity's registered agent for service of process in this state, the judgment creditor shall send a copy of such summons to the location of the corporate entity's registered agent for service of process in this state unless the corporate entity has requested that no such copy be sent or no such registered agent exists. Proof of compliance with this subdivision (7)(c) is not required for a garnishment to continue.

Legislative History

Source: R.S.1867, Code § 244, p. 433; R.S.1913, § 7785; C.S.1922, § 8729; C.S.1929, § 20-1056; R.S.1943, § 25-1056; Laws 1953, c. 68, § 1, p. 219; Laws 1955, c. 85, § 3, p. 255; Laws 1959, c. 101, § 4, p. 423; Laws 1972, LB 1032, § 127; Laws 1974, LB 737, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 597, § 15; Laws 1988, LB 1030, § 17; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 169; Laws 1995, LB 420, § 1; Laws 1996, LB 1048, § 1; Laws 1997, LB 771, § 1; Laws 2015, LB195, § 2; Laws 2025, LB150, § 22. Operative Date: September 3, 2025 Annotations: 1. Affidavit 2. Summons 3. Proceedings 4. When section is not applicable 5. Miscellaneous 1. Affidavit Affidavit upon mere belief is sufficient. Clarke v. Neb. Nat. Bank, 57 Neb. 314, 77 N.W. 805 (1899). Affidavit purporting not to be that of an individual is void; fact of agency should be sworn to. Jeary v. American Exchange Bank, 2 Neb. Unof. 657, 89 N.W. 771 (1902). 2. Summons Acknowledgment on back of summons is equivalent to service. Scott v. McDonald, 125 Neb. 803, 252 N.W. 323 (1934). After judgment, summons in garnishment from one county to another in aid of execution is unauthorized. Hinds State Bank v. Loffler, 113 Neb. 110, 202 N.W. 465 (1925). Where summons is issued same day execution is returned, it will be presumed latter was returned first. Brunke v. Gruben, 84 Neb. 806, 122 N.W. 37 (1909). If summons is issued before judgment, proceedings are void. Whitcomb v. Atkins, 40 Neb. 549, 59 N.W. 86 (1894). Return of officer "nulla bona" is conclusive for purposes of garnishment. Wilson v. Burney, 8 Neb. 39 (1878). 3. Proceedings Garnishment requires a judgment, and the dismissal of a suit pursuant to a settlement agreement does not suffice to allow a garnishment action to enforce the settlement. J.K. v. Kolbeck, 257 Neb. 107, 595 N.W.2d 875 (1999). Procedure for garnishment after domestic judgment and procedure for enforcement of foreign judgment compared. Sullivan v. Sullivan, 168 Neb. 850, 97 N.W.2d 348 (1959). Where garnishee denies indebtedness by answer and interrogatories are not propounded, garnishee should be discharged. Searcey v. Badgett, 137 Neb. 185, 288 N.W. 537 (1939). In a garnishment proceeding in aid of execution, the answer and evidence of garnishee only are admissible in response to the summons in garnishment. Orchard & Wilhelm Co. v. North, 135 Neb. 39, 280 N.W. 272 (1938). Law of garnishment is purely statutory and will be interpreted more strongly against garnishor. Central Market v. King, 132 Neb. 380, 272 N.W. 244 (1937). In garnishment proceedings in aid of execution the answer or evidence of the garnishee only may be taken by the court. Orchard & Wilhelm Co. v. North, 125 Neb. 723, 251 N.W. 895 (1933). If judgment is afterwards set aside, garnishment proceedings are dissolved. Clough v. Buck, 6 Neb. 343 (1877). This section authorizes garnishments in aid of execution and, by incorporating other statutes, expressly authorizes assertion in garnishment proceedings of exemptions applicable to executions. ARL Credit Servs. v. Piper, 15 Neb. App. 811, 736 N.W.2d 771 (2007). 4. When section is not applicable A garnishee bank waives its right of setoff if after notice of garnishment it permits the depositor to draw on the garnished account, reducing the account balance below the balance at the time of service or, if that balance is greater than the amount of judgment, below the amount of the judgment. United Seeds v. Eagle Green Corp., 223 Neb. 360, 389 N.W.2d 571 (1986). This section not applicable when garnishee is a foreign insurance company which has complied with statutory provisions to obtain certificate of authority to do business. Pupkes v. Sailors, 183 Neb. 784, 164 N.W.2d 441 (1969). 5. Miscellaneous The Employee Retirement Income Security Act's anti-alienation statute bars creditors from collecting undistributed funds in a judgment debtor's employee benefit plan through postjudgment garnishment in aid of execution proceedings. Florence Lake Investments v. Berg, 312 Neb. 183, 978 N.W.2d 308 (2022). Garnishment in aid of execution of a judgment is proper in Nebraska only when the garnishee has property of and is indebted to the judgment debtor, and the test for determining the liability of the garnishee defendant to the garnisheeing plaintiff is whether or not the facts would support a recovery by the principal defendant against the garnishee. Darr v. Long, 210 Neb. 57, 313 N.W.2d 215 (1988). Judgment creditor of insolvent corporation cannot put himself in preferred position over other creditors. State ex rel. Sorensen v. State Bank of Omaha, 136 Neb. 880, 287 N.W. 762 (1939). A judicial order on a garnishee to turn over money or property in aid of execution can only be made upon an unqualified admission by him of a present indebtedness which execution debtor would be entitled to but for the garnishment. Shonsey Co. v. Belgrade-Hord Co., 133 Neb. 886, 277 N.W. 597 (1938); Early v. Belgrade-Hord Co., 133 Neb. 884, 277 N.W. 596 (1938). Indebtedness of maker upon promissory note, before maturity, is not the subject of attachment; his obligation is not to payee but to holder, whoever he may be. Fisher v. O'Hanlon, 93 Neb. 529, 141 N.W. 157 (1913).