Wage garnishment vs bank account garnishment.
February 4, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Michael Vogt
Due to a dispute with a creditor, my wages and/or bank account could be garnished. Normally, after a wage garnishment, the non-garnishable amount of my wages (approximately 2,000 euros) would be available to me. However, if a bank account garnishment were to occur on the account where only my non-garnishable wages are deposited, that amount would also be inaccessible and I would not be able to cover my monthly expenses of around 1,600 euros. My idea to avoid this is to transfer my wages to the bank account of another trusted individual, from where the garnishable amount would immediately be transferred to my own account, as long as there is no garnishment yet. This way, I would only be protecting my non-garnishable amount. Is this possible and allowed? Would this not constitute obstruction of justice under Section 288 of the Penal Code?
Thank you for your prompt response.
Dear seeker of advice,
Your question may be answered based on the circumstances you have described and taking into account your contribution as follows:
In principle, you are free to choose the account to which you have your wages transferred.
However, I find it doubtful whether the chosen construction is necessary at all.
While it is true that the protection against attachment for wages generally ends with the credit to the account, in the event of an account attachment, you can request, according to § 850l ZPO, at the enforcement court that the non-attachable portion of your income be exempted. You will thus be treated as if the creditor were attaching the wages directly from the employer. Since the bank is only allowed to transfer the attached funds to the creditor 4 weeks after the attachment, according to § 835 ZPO, you are not at risk of the money being transferred before the court's decision.
However, since a decision by the court can take some days, I would recommend that you immediately set up a so-called "Pfändungsschutzkonto" (protected account). In case of an attachment, the bank must automatically consider the attachment exemption limits, and you do not have to submit a time-consuming application to the court separately, according to § 850k ZPO.
I hope that my answer has given you an initial overview of the legal situation.
I would like to point out that this answer, based on your information, is only an initial legal assessment of the situation. It cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation. By adding or omitting relevant information, the legal assessment may be completely different.
You are welcome to contact me within the scope of the follow-up option on this portal or via my email address.
For legal representation beyond this initial consultation, my law firm is also available.
I wish you a pleasant evening and remain
Yours sincerely
RA Michael Vogt
