What does garnishee mean?
Garnishee is a chiefly legal term for a third party—such as a bank or employer—that holds money or property belonging to a judgment debtor. After a creditor obtains a court order, the garnishee is notified not to release, transfer, or otherwise deal with the funds until the legal claim is resolved. The notice is commonly called a garnishee, while the procedure is known as garnishment. In modern practice, the term often appears in contexts involving bank accounts, wages, or other assets held by a third party. Used as a verb, garnishee means to serve that notice on a third party. Although the language sounds dramatic, the concept is procedural: the third party is not accused of wrongdoing and does not thereby become the debtor. The word is especially useful for recognizing a legal hold on assets that lies outside the debtor's direct control.
A third party who holds money or property belonging to a judgment debtor and is directed by a court to withhold it for a creditor; also, the legal notice served on that third party.
"The employer became a garnishee after receiving an order to withhold part of the employee's wages."
The noun is most often used in legal and financial contexts.
To serve a legal notice on a person or institution holding funds or property belonging to another, directing that the funds or property be withheld for a creditor.
"The plaintiff garnisheed the bank and obtained an order freezing the defendant's account."
Usually used in a legal or financial register.
The plural refers to several third parties served with legal notices or included in a garnishee order.
"The court directed the garnishees to retain the disputed funds pending further proceedings."
The money has arrived, but the court has ordered it to stay put.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does garnishee come from?
The word was borrowed into English legal language from French garnishee, a feminine form connected with garnir, meaning “to furnish” or “equip.” Its legal sense developed in early modern English for a person or notice connected with holding another person's property for a creditor. Garnish, garnishment, and garrison also trace to the same French family of words, though they developed distinct meanings.
Related word forms
How garnishee is actually used
This is a formal, chiefly legal term. It is especially common in American legal and financial contexts but is also used in British and other Commonwealth legal systems. The word can sound antiquated in casual speech, where freeze, withhold, or seize more often describes the underlying action.
Easily confused with garnishee
Garnish means to decorate food or an object, whereas a garnishee is a third party whose funds or property are placed under a legal hold.