Definition
A garnishee is a third party who holds money, property, or owes a debt belonging to or owed to a judgment debtor, and against whom a garnishment proceeding has been initiated. The garnishee is not the primary defendant in the underlying action — that is the debtor — but is brought into the proceeding because they stand between the creditor and the assets the creditor seeks to reach.
Upon proper service of garnishment process, the garnishee becomes legally obligated to retain the property or funds in their possession and not to pay or transfer them to the debtor until the court resolves the matter. Employers served with wage garnishment orders, banks holding a debtor's deposit accounts, and third parties holding property in trust for a debtor are all common examples of garnishees.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "The person whose money is garnished."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "One who is garnished; a person upon whom garnishment has been served in a suit by a creditor against a debtor, such person holding property belonging to the debtor, or owing him money."
Both common definitions are broadly accurate but obscure a critical legal distinction: the garnishee's money is not garnished — the debtor's money, held by or owed by the garnishee, is what the proceeding targets. The garnishee is an involuntary participant, not a wrongdoer and not a debtor in the primary suit. Researchers who read "the person whose money is garnished" too quickly may misidentify the party relationships in historical proceedings.
Common Confusion
GARNISHEE vs. DEFENDANT: In garnishment proceedings, the underlying judgment debtor is the defendant in the main action. The garnishee is a distinct third party compelled into the proceeding by service of process. Some historical pleadings and older reports use "defendant" loosely in ways that blur this line.
GARNISHEE vs. GARNISHER/GARNISHOR: The garnisher (or garnishor) is the creditor who initiates the garnishment. The garnishee is the party served. These roles are opposite. The confusion appears in older texts that use "garnishment" as both noun and verb without consistent role labeling.
Why It Matters in Research
The garnishee's legal obligations are triggered by notice, not by judgment. Bouvier makes this explicit: from the moment of attachment notice, the garnishee is bound to retain the property. Researchers reading pre-judgment garnishment records must understand that a garnishee's appearance in the record does not mean any liability has been established — only that the process has been served.
In historical sources, the garnishee was sometimes called the "garnished party" or simply described as the party "warned" — reflecting the French root garnir, preserved in Burrill's etymology. Older English and colonial American records may use "warned party" or similar language where modern practice would say garnishee. This linguistic variation can cause researchers to miss garnishment proceedings when searching by party role.
Jurisdictional variation over time matters significantly here. Pre-judgment garnishment (attaching assets before a final judgment) was historically broader and is now constitutionally restricted following due process developments in the second half of the twentieth century. Records from before this shift will show garnishees being bound at a much earlier stage of proceedings than modern practice allows. Researchers evaluating historical creditor-debtor disputes should be alert to this procedural difference when comparing remedies across eras.
The garnishee's obligations are also not passive. Courts historically required garnishees to answer — to disclose what they held — and failure to answer could result in default judgment against the garnishee directly. This answer requirement means garnishment records often contain affidavits, interrogatories, and responses from garnishees that serve as independent evidence of the debtor's asset position.
Wage garnishment as a distinct subtype developed substantially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the growth of employment relationships. Earlier garnishment law focused more heavily on tangible property and debts between merchants. Researchers tracing wage garnishment history will find a relatively thin record in the oldest sources.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries agree on the core definition: the garnishee is a third party holding the debtor's property or owing the debtor a debt, who has been formally warned not to dissipate those assets pending litigation. Burrill, uniquely, preserves the etymological note — from the Law French garnir, to warn — which explains why Bouvier's definition emphasizes that the garnishee is "so called because he has had warning or notice of the attachment." This framing is more than historical color; it confirms that notice is the operative act that creates the garnishee's legal obligations.
Black's first and second editions are nearly identical in substance, both defining the garnishee as one against whom garnishment process issues and who is notified not to pay or deliver the attached property. The second edition adds case references but does not depart from the first edition's substance. Neither Black's edition engages with the procedural consequences of the garnishee's failure to answer, which Bouvier addresses more fully by noting the garnishee's duty to hold assets to "answer the plaintiff's demand."
None of the historical dictionaries address constitutional limitations on pre-judgment garnishment, nor the modern statutory frameworks governing wage garnishment caps and exemptions. These developments are entirely absent from the historical record as reflected in these sources.
Jurisdictional Note
Garnishment procedure, including the obligations imposed on a garnishee and the timing of those obligations, varies considerably by state statute. Federal law governs limits on wage garnishment amounts through the Consumer Credit Protection Act, but the mechanics of serving and binding a garnishee remain largely state-law questions. Some states require a garnishee to file a formal answer within a set period; failure to answer can result in default judgment against the garnishee for the full amount of the creditor's claim.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Garnishment (for the proceeding that creates garnishee status and the procedural framework)
See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Attachment (for the historical relationship between attachment and garnishment in reaching third-party held assets)