IBA Compliance Connection

Your go to source for compliance!

We received a non-wage garnishment summons for an individual who maintains a corporate account at our bank. The individual, not the corporation, is named as the debtor. The only account he has is the corporate account. He is president of the corporation and one of two authorized signers on the account. Do we have to freeze the corporate account?

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Although we cannot provide legal advice, we do not believe you are required to freeze any assets in the corporate account. Based on the information you have provided, the summons indicates that the individual is the debtor, not the corporation. Generally, a corporation’s assets are separate from the assets of its individual officers. Consequently, the debtor does not have any accounts at your bank for you to freeze.