Rule 90.07.Interrogatories to Garnishee -- Answers to Interrogatories -- Exceptions -- Response.

A garnishment writ tells the garnishee that property is attached; interrogatories are how the garnishor finds out what that property is. Rule 90.07 requires the garnishor to serve written interrogatories at the same time as the writ, asking the garnishee to describe the debtor’s property in its hands, state the gross wages due and the nonexempt portion subject to garnishment if it is a wage garnishment, give the debtor’s last known address and identify anyone else who may claim an interest in the property, and — if the garnishee is a bank or other financial institution — disclose any account holding only recurring, electronically deposited funds that are reasonably identifiable as exempt. The garnishee must also identify any senior garnishments already pending, tell the garnishor when a senior garnishment ends, and notify the garnishor if the debtor’s employment ends. These duties continue for as long as the garnishment stays in effect, so the garnishee has to supplement its answers as circumstances change.

The garnishee must file and serve verified answers within ten days after the writ’s return date, or within 20 days of being served with the writ for a continuous wage garnishment. If the garnishor disagrees with those answers, or wants to pursue a claim against the garnishee based on them, the garnishor must file and serve exceptions — for a garnishment with a return date, within the later of 20 days after the answers were served or 20 days after the return date; for a continuous wage garnishment, within 20 days after the answers were served. Miss that deadline, and the garnishee’s answers become conclusively binding against the garnishor. The garnishee then gets 20 days after service of any exceptions to file a response.

One procedural detail is easy to overlook: interrogatories and answers are not filed with the court as a matter of course. They stay outside the court file unless the court orders otherwise or the garnishor files exceptions that put the answers in issue. Whenever interrogatories or answers are served, though, the serving party still has to file a certificate of service documenting the caption, who was served, when and how, and what document was served.