Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: Turnover proceeding

A turnover Petition is required to be brought in the jurisdiction where the leagl action where you got the judgment is pending.

You must notice the bank as an additional respondent, as well as others whose names are on the account, together with the judgment debtor.

Your best bet may be to try an legal formbook in the County Law Library (usually found in the courthouse--call first).

Good Luck

Re: Turnover proceeding

You might be able to get the form from the court clerk (some are helpful). The form is in two parts...the first part is the "notice of motion" and must comply with the court rules, but essentially it simply states that you are making a request that the court issues an order directing the bank to turnover funds due you from the judgment debtor. It tells the parties where and when the motion will be heard. The second part is the facts...You tell that you sued the debtor and got judgment and tied up funds in a joint account at the bank. You state you are making the motion to get an order to get the bank to turnover the funds due you. You then attach all the relevent documents to show proof. There are a couple of things you should know...first, if NO one appears, the court will apply the law that there is a presumption that the funds in the account are 50/50, owned by both parties, so you can only get HALF. Unless you have some proof that all the funds belong to your debtor you get half. You have to include as respondents, the non-judgment joint bank holder and the bank itself. it is a pain in the butt motion and you have to make sure you will get enough funds to make it worthwhile. You can call your debtor and try to work it out amicably too...after all, they can't use their funds in the bank for a year, probably don't know you get only half...and may think they're saving funds if you make a deal...if you have them sign a conditional release letter, the bank will pay you funds direct without a Court order...(needs both joint owners to sign if more than half).