Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Michigan

Yes, if you are "joint" on the account versus just an authorized check signer. It's called a garnishment, which is a form of collection activities performed by a judgment creditor. Once you receive notice of the garnishment (which comes after your bank has received the garnishment and has frozen the money), you have the right to object and have a hearing in court wherein you would have to prove that only X amount of the money in the bank account was yours, and that X amount belonged to the other person, and, therefore, your creditor is only entitled to the amount that was yours. Proving this can be difficult depending on how much money is in the account, the source of the deposits (paychecks and SS is easily identified, but cash deposits are almost impossible to prove ownership), etc.

It's also a hassle to be in this situation because you have to file objections (within a certain time period) and wait for a court hearing and, in the meantime, all of the money is frozen until the court decides who the money belongs to and how much the creditor is permitted to garnish/seize. It's best not to have a joint account when either person has a judgment against him or her, primarily for this reason. You would also need the joint account holder to come to court with you so he/she could testify and/or confirm that all or a portion of the money was his/hers, testify to facts and evidence to support that statement, etc.

Here's an example: a grandmother has a bank account for her monthly SS check deposits, which is the only source of her income. Her son is on her bank account to assist her with writing checks or in an emergency. He never puts money into the account or uses her money for his personal reasons. Son's creditor finds the bank account and garnishes some money. Son could easily show that based on the account history, every month for the past few years, the only deposits into the account are the monthly SS checks belonging to his grandmother and that he is only on the account to help her occasionally or for emergencies. That would be pretty straightforward and easy to demonstrate. However, most situations are more complex or convoluted so, again, err on the side of caution and try to avoid that situation.