Rule B.In Personam Actions: Attachment and Garnishment

Last amended December 1, 2009 · Last verified June 30, 2026

In one sentenceSupplemental Rule B authorizes maritime attachment and garnishment: in an in personam admiralty action, if the defendant cannot be found within the district, the plaintiff may attach the defendant’s property up to the amount sued for, ordinarily subject to the court’s prior review, though the clerk must issue process immediately on a certification that exigent circumstances make review impracticable.

Full Text of Rule B

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(1) When Available; Complaint, Affidavit, Judicial Authorization, and Process. In an in personam action:

(a) If a defendant is not found within the district when a verified complaint praying for attachment and the affidavit required by Rule B(1)(b) are filed, a verified complaint may contain a prayer for process to attach the defendant's tangible or intangible personal property—up to the amount sued for—in the hands of garnishees named in the process.

(b) The plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney must sign and file with the complaint an affidavit stating that, to the affiant's knowledge, or on information and belief, the defendant cannot be found within the district. The court must review the complaint and affidavit and, if the conditions of this Rule B appear to exist, enter an order so stating and authorizing process of attachment and garnishment. The clerk may issue supplemental process enforcing the court's order upon application without further court order.

(c) If the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney certifies that exigent circumstances make court review impracticable, the clerk must issue the summons and process of attachment and garnishment. The plaintiff has the burden in any post-attachment hearing under Rule E(4)(f) to show that exigent circumstances existed.

(d)

(i) If the property is a vessel or tangible property on board a vessel, the summons, process, and any supplemental process must be delivered to the marshal for service.

(ii) If the property is other tangible or intangible property, the summons, process, and any supplemental process must be delivered to a person or organization authorized to serve it, who may be (A) a marshal; (B) someone under contract with the United States; (C) someone specially appointed by the court for that purpose; or, (D) in an action brought by the United States, any officer or employee of the United States.

(e) The plaintiff may invoke state-law remedies under Rule 64 for seizure of person or property for the purpose of securing satisfaction of the judgment.

(2) Notice to Defendant. No default judgment may be entered except upon proof—which may be by affidavit—that:

(a) the complaint, summons, and process of attachment or garnishment have been served on the defendant in a manner authorized by Rule 4;

(b) the plaintiff or the garnishee has mailed to the defendant the complaint, summons, and process of attachment or garnishment, using any form of mail requiring a return receipt; or

(c) the plaintiff or the garnishee has tried diligently to give notice of the action to the defendant but could not do so.

(3) Answer.

(a) By Garnishee. The garnishee shall serve an answer, together with answers to any interrogatories served with the complaint, within 21 days after service of process upon the garnishee. Interrogatories to the garnishee may be served with the complaint without leave of court. If the garnishee refuses or neglects to answer on oath as to the debts, credits, or effects of the defendant in the garnishee's hands, or any interrogatories concerning such debts, credits, and effects that may be propounded by the plaintiff, the court may award compulsory process against the garnishee. If the garnishee admits any debts, credits, or effects, they shall be held in the garnishee's hands or paid into the registry of the court, and shall be held in either case subject to the further order of the court.

(b) By Defendant. The defendant shall serve an answer within 30 days after process has been executed, whether by attachment of property or service on the garnishee.

End

Amendment History

(Added Feb. 28, 1966, eff. July 1, 1966; amended Apr. 29, 1985, eff. Aug. 1, 1985; Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 17, 2000, eff. Dec. 1, 2000; Apr. 25, 2005, eff. Dec. 1, 2005; Mar. 26, 2009, eff. Dec. 1, 2009.)

Plain-English Summary

Supplemental Rule B solves a problem unique to maritime commerce: a defendant — often a foreign shipowner — whose only presence in the district is property that can quickly sail away. When the defendant is not found within the district, the plaintiff in an in personam admiralty claim may, with a verified complaint and the court’s review of the papers, have the defendant’s tangible or intangible property in the district attached or garnished up to the amount of the claim.

The attachment serves two purposes at once: it secures the eventual judgment and it establishes a basis for the court to proceed against an absent defendant. The rule builds in safeguards — judicial scrutiny before issuance and a prompt opportunity for the defendant or anyone with an interest to be heard and seek release under the general provisions of Supplemental Rule E. There is a fast track around that judicial scrutiny, though: if the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney certifies that exigent circumstances make court review impracticable, the clerk must issue the attachment process immediately, and the plaintiff then bears the burden at a post-attachment hearing to show those exigent circumstances existed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is maritime attachment under Rule B?

A procedure that lets a plaintiff in an in personam admiralty case attach a defendant’s property in the district — up to the amount claimed — when the defendant cannot be found there (Supplemental Rule B).

Does a judge always review the attachment before it issues?

Not always. If the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney certifies that exigent circumstances make court review impracticable, the clerk must issue the attachment immediately without prior judicial review — but the plaintiff then has the burden, at any post-attachment hearing, to show those circumstances were real.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. Supp. R. B), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government. Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: FRCP Supplemental Rule BFed. R. Civ. P. Supplemental Rule Bmaritime attachmentmaritime garnishmentRule B attachment